ACLU: DoD sought citizens’ bank records

[unhappycamper]

ACLU: DoD sought citizens’ bank records
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Oct 15, 2007 7:16:20 EDT

NEW YORK — The American Civil Liberties Union said Sunday that newly uncovered documents show that the Pentagon secretly sent hundreds of letters seeking the financial records of private citizens without court approval.

The ACLU said an analysis of 455 so-called national security letters issued after Sept. 11, 2001 shows that the Pentagon collaborated with the FBI to circumvent the law and may have overstepped its legal authority to obtain financial and credit records. The ACLU has been reviewing the letters and the accompanying documentation over the past few days.

“Once again, the Bush administration’s unchecked authority has led to abuse and civil liberties violations,” said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero in a statement. “The documents make clear that the Department of Defense may have secretly and illegally conducted surveillance beyond the powers it was granted by Congress.”

No spokesman for the Pentagon was available for comment Sunday.

The New York Times first disclosed the military’s use of the letters in January, and members of Congress and civil liberties groups said the practice conflicted with traditional Pentagon rules against domestic law-enforcement operations.

Vice President Dick Cheney defended the practice as a “perfectly legitimate activity” used to investigate possible acts of terrorism and espionage.


Rest if article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/10/ap_pentagonbankrecords_071014/



uhc comment: Things must be getting bad if the Navy Times runs an article like this.