Pentagon Using FBI to Spy On Americans

Posted by GottaLaff at 12:00 PM on October 15, 2007.

This post, written by GottaLaff, originally appeared on Cliff Schecter's Brave New Films Blog

Apparently the Pentagon is in cahoots with the FBI to look at our financial, telephone and Internet records without court approval.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which has successfully challenged key planks of US anti-terrorism legislation, said it had uncovered 455 "National Security Letters" issued at the behest of the Department of Defense.

The ACLU says that the Pentagon and FBI had collaborated "to circumvent the law" and "provided misleading information to Congress" about the nature and reach of the requests.

Deja vu.

"Once again, the Bush administration's unchecked authority has led to abuse and civil liberties violations," ACLU executive director Anthony Romero said.

So while Congress is squabbling and wheeling and dealing about FISA, the FBI and DoD have spied on us at least 455 times.

"At the very least, it certainly looks like the FBI and DoD are conspiring to evade limits placed on the Department of Defense's surveillance powers," Romero said.

The FBI has been acting as a front for the Pentagon so that defense officials can access records they are "not entitled to receive," according to the ACLU.

Military + domestic intelligence gathering = Scary

The ACLU's Melissa Goodman:

"These documents reveal that the military is gaining access to records here in the US -- in secret and without any meaningful oversight."

Enough is enough. Congress, get your up off your asses and do something. Now.

Tagged as: fbi, aclu, pentagon, civil liberties, domestic spying

GottaLaff is a regular blogger for Cliff Schecter's Blog