Yes, yes you have been sorry under this administration...

Is anyone really surprised that they did this?

Remember everyone, if you haven't done anything wrong (like hold views that run against this adminstration's), you have nothing to fear.

Apology not accepted.

Well, at least they got an apology. That's more than the mayor with two dead dogs got.

Thought it was going to be about Russia and Georgia.

DNRTFA, don't give a damn.

Ok, just make sure not to do it again.

jiggtronics: Apology not accepted.

add me to the broken hearts you've collected....



/When you work in the government, "improper" is not valid territory. You either upheld the Constitution or you did not.

Nothing surprises me much anymore...except this, apologizing...unheard of...the Chinese should give it a go...and the French still have a whole lot to answer for...

Sorry... about your damn luck.

Loverboy586: Is anyone really surprised that they did this?

Sorry sir, but I'm going to need to see your free speech license.

Until you can provide such documentation, you'll have to be "concentrated" with the other political dissidents into a special education "camp". It's for your own safety.

Loverboy586: Is anyone really surprised that they did this?

Yes. I'm surprised they apologized. But I'm glad they did.

I speak this freely; "Holy Crap!"

the link, she is farked

Seems the article has been redacted. Guess very few of us will ever know what it is "they" did.

Do not worry yourself about the affairs of state, citizen,

Work, buy, spend, sleep.

farm machine: Seems the article has been redacted. Guess very few of us will ever know what it is "they" did.

Mueller called Post Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. and Times Executive Editor Bill Keller on Friday to express regret that agents did not follow proper procedures in 2004 when they obtained the phone records of a Post reporter and a researcher and two Times reporters. All four were working in Indonesia and writing about Islamic terrorism at the time.

Gets out his tin foil hat with the ear muffs!

I feel like a few public trials for treason would go a long way towards fixing the culture of constitutional disregard in our government agencies. What's wrong is that government employees get off *that* easy in situations like this.

At least the people who authorized this should lose their jobs and be publicly shamed.

can we have a 1984 tag NOW?

bunner: farm machine: Seems the article has been redacted. Guess very few of us will ever know what it is "they" did.

Mueller called Post Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. and Times Executive Editor Bill Keller on Friday to express regret that agents did not follow proper procedures in 2004 when they obtained the phone records of a Post reporter and a researcher and two Times reporters. All four were working in Indonesia and writing about Islamic terrorism at the time.

:D Thank you, bunner, at least now those of us who missed it at least have an idea of what happened.

/...noticed it took all of 20 minutes from Boobies to blank screen. Yanked, and yanked hard. Not in a good way, either.

bigglady: Yanked, and yanked hard. Not in a good way, either.

Aug 9, 2:18 PM EDT

FBI to newspapers: Sorry about your phone records
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- FBI Director Robert Mueller has apologized to the editors of The Washington Post and The New York Times for improperly obtaining phone records of the newspapers' reporters while investigating terrorism four years ago.

Mueller called Post Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. and Times Executive Editor Bill Keller on Friday to express regret that agents did not follow proper procedures in 2004 when they obtained the phone records of a Post reporter and a researcher and two Times reporters. All four were working in Indonesia and writing about Islamic terrorism at the time.

Mueller and other FBI officials told the newspapers that agents obtained the records under a process that allowed them to bypass a grand jury review in emergency cases. The incident came to light through a review by the Justice Department's inspector general of bureau procedures that enabled the FBI to obtain thousands of records from phone companies after the Sept. 11 attacks.

In the case of the newspaper reporters, agents obtained toll phone records - records of incoming and outgoing calls, but not details of conversations - using what are known as "exigent circumstances" letters.

Last year, the inspector general uncovered 700 cases in which FBI agents obtained telephone records through "exigent letters," which asserted that grand jury subpoenas had been requested for the data when in fact such subpoenas never had been sought. The FBI eliminated use of the letters in 2007.

Both Keller and Downie said they are seeking more information on the incidents, and Keller said he also wants to know how the FBI intends to prevent future incidents.

Deputy Assistant FBI Director Mike Kortan said in a statement that no investigative use was made of the reporters' phone records, and that "safeguards are now in place that we believe would prevent this from recurring."

But Jameel Jaffer, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's national security project, said in a statement that the episode confirms that "there are insufficient safeguards on the agency's use of national security letters and other intrusive surveillance tools. There aren't enough controls inside the agency, and there aren't enough checks from outside the agency."

"Especially dangerous is the FBI's power to impose gag orders on those ordered to disclose information," Jaffer said. "These gag orders, which are often unnecessary and almost always overbroad, invite abuse."

Because of possible First Amendment violations, requests for reporters' phone records are supposed to receive an even higher level scrutiny before they can be approved - usually requiring the approval of the attorney general or other high-ranking Justice Department official.

© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.

Loverboy586: Is anyone really surprised that they did this?

what surprises me is that so many of us support actions like this.

/second try
//gotta plead ignorance on this

It's cool. Just bring a six pack next time you come over.

So, domestic spying = puking over you're friend's Rock Band drumset.

So they will never, ever do that again, so help them?

Di Atribe 2008-08-09 03:00:24 PM
Loverboy586: Is anyone really surprised that they did this?
Yes. I'm surprised they apologized. But I'm glad they did.

This isn't an apology - it's a "Yeah, we did it and don't really care that you know we did it. There were absolutley no repercussions, so you can be sure as hell we will do it again if we want to."

While I don't want to sound overly negative or too much like a crackpot, the FBI does have a long history of doing stuff like this, doing a "whoops, sorry" when they get caught and then doing it again a few years down the line.

If you were cynical, you'd think that naming your headquarters after Hoover is like bragging "I'll kick your ass and get away with it."

After all, Hoover is the guy who
- wanted to suspend habeas corpus for Americans
- had a detailed list of 12,000 Americans he wanted illegally detained
- started the CONINTELPRO program
- etc etc.

mcmnky and biglady

Thanks - I was just playing along... now that I've seen the reprint it's crap but probably one of the terms and conditions of a confidential settlement between the FBI and the papers.... there's absolutely no assurance that this won't happen again or explanation of how the systems and controls can't be circumvented in the future...

The FBI went on to say, "Sorry you're all CHUMPS!"

Maybe Director Mueller should let us look at his, and his agencies phone records over the past four years. If we don't find anything surreptitious, we'll just apologize. Deal?

I wouldn't be surprised they're spying on businesses too, and using the information for some insider trading.

Tarkus: I wouldn't be surprised they're spying on businesses too, and using the information for some insider trading.

Someone once postulated that if you know who a business calls and when, you don't need to know what was said. I do believe he was correct.

Apologizing for being caught, the administration pledged to track the IP addresses of everyone reading this story.

MisterTweak: Tarkus: I wouldn't be surprised they're spying on businesses too, and using the information for some insider trading.

Someone once postulated that if you know who a business calls and when, you don't need to know what was said. I do believe he was correct.

Most espionage is in fact of the industrial variety.

Tweeker: Most espionage is in fact of the industrial variety.

And it made China a super-power.

The FBI eliminated use of the letters in 2007.

Now they don't even ask for permission to obtain phone records.

/Thank you Freedom™
//Thank God I live in Canuckistan.