Lawmakers Vow Hearings on FBI Errors

The inspector general's report discloses that on 739 occasions, the FBI obtained telephone toll or subscriber records without first having a required national security letter or grand jury subpoena, according to an unclassified version. Instead, the report says, the FBI used a tactic called "exigent letters" that claimed there were emergencies that warranted getting the information immediately. Many times, no such emergencies existed, the inspector general found.

"On over 700 occasions the FBI obtained telephone billing records or subscriber information from three telephone companies without first issuing national security letters or grand jury subpoenas," the report says. It notes that many times the FBI supervisors who approved such requests did not even have the legal authority to sign national security letters.

The report also details how, after getting its sweeping new anti-terrorism powers under the Patriot Act, the FBI did not put into place basic training and record-keeping procedures to ensure civil liberties were protected. Such problems kept the FBI from giving Congress legally required accurate numbers on the times they used national security letters, the investigation found.

"During the time period covered by this review, the FBI had no policy or directive requiring the retention of signed copies of the national security letters or any requirement to upload national security letters to the FBI's case management system," the report says.

Likewise, the bureau failed to give its agents "comprehensive guidance" on the types of legal violations it might have to report to intelligence authorities.

In today's news conference, Mueller said the FBI "discontinued the use of exigent letters" in May 2006 when it learned of the problems with them. "As we have identified these problems, we have addressed them," he said.

While acknowledging that the inspector general's report identified "serious problems," Mueller offered assurances that "the number of abuses is exceptionally small" compared to the overall number of national security letters, and he asserted that "no one has been damaged" by the shortcomings.

He said the letters "contribute significantly to our counterterrorism and intelligence missions" and are "the bread and butter of our investigations." He added, "In order to prevent attacks in the future, we absolutely have to track terrorists overseas and see what ties they might have in the United States." Telephone toll records obtained under the letters are among the keys to doing that, he said.

Specter, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, raised the possibility that Congress might shrink some of the FBI's antiterrorism powers.

"I am very concerned that the FBI has so badly misused national security letters," Specter said in a statement. "When we reauthorized the Patriot Act last year, we did so on the basis that there would be strict compliance with the limitations included in the statute."

Specter said the committee "will now have to undertake comprehensive oversight on this important matter and perhaps act to limit the FBI's power by revising the Patriot Act."

Specter later told reporters that Congress may have to "change the law . . . to impose statutory requirements and perhaps take away some of the authority which we've already given tot he FBI, since they appear not to be able to now how to use it."