where is the audit data from 2002 to 2004 on patriot act section 215 business records?

~~~~~~~~~~~~
U P D A T E D:
07.10.07 10:00 a.m.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

thanks to reader margot, we
have some answers! her links led
to a trail that led to a march
21, 2007 hearing, at which the
phase one audit report was
presented -- quoting now:

Findings of the OIG Review

Our review found widespread and serious misuse of the FBI’s national security letter authorities. In many instances, the FBI’s misuse of national security letters violated NSL statutes, Attorney General Guidelines, or the FBI’s own internal policies. We also found that the FBI did not provide adequate guidance, adequate controls, or adequate training on the use of these sensitive authorities. In many respects, the FBI’s oversight of the use of NSL authorities expanded by the Patriot Act was inconsistent and insufficient. . .

more to come, as i dig through the EFF docu-dump. . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~
END, UPDATED PORTION
~~~~~~~~~~~~

here appears the first dividend from the
electronic frontier foundation's FOIA
requests and lawsuits -- the liberation
of information -- see the post immediately
below this one (timestamped 12:07 a.m.), for background. . .

okay -- take a look -- click to enlarge:


[this image is from page 62 of the first FBI/DoJ PDF set.]

well, "phase one" of the above audit
report should have been completed,
and delivered, on march 9, 2007,
to both sen. leahy and rep. conyers.

and now, it should be rolled-forward
to inlcude data from 2005 through 2006
by december 31, 2007. . .

i certainly don't remember either
chairman conyers, or chairman leahy
making any statement about the audited
results of use, and misuse, of national
security letters under section 215 of
the as-modified patriot act, do you?

let me know if you've seen or heard
anything about it. this is worthy of
some oversight follow-up.

again, a sincere thanks to the the
fine lawyers at the electronic frontier
foundation for helping keep us a
nation ruled by laws, not just by men,
these last few rather dark years. . .

more to come, as i get time to really
sort through the 1,100 page f.o.i.a. dump.

very shortly now, the EFF should be posting 1,500 pages. . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~
UPDATED:
07.09.07 11 p.m.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

okay -- the first batch
(of some 1,100 pages) is
now online here -- interesting
early discoveries include:

. . .FOIA documents show. . . that several cases were forwarded to the Board between April 2005 and February 2007.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was copied on these referrals, despite congressional testimony in April 2005 that he was unaware of any civil liberties violations arising from the PATRIOT Act, and a March 2007 speech in which he claimed to be “upset” and "concerned" by the inspector general's findings.

Copies of more than 60 "exigent letters" [PDF] sent by FBI headquarters to three telecomunications companies. The inspector general determined that the FBI's use of these short form letters, which cryptically asked for telephone records because of unspecified "exigent circumstances," circumvented the law and violated FBI guidelines and policies. . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~
END, UPDATED
PORTION
~~~~~~~~~~~~




the background on this is here,
but as of june 28, 2007, judge bates had re-
affirmed, and clarified his order that 500
no, 1,500 pages of national security letter
documents be made available under a FOIA request,
and subsequent lawsuit, by the electronic froniter
foundation (the "eff"). . . the order sets a rolling
schedule of escalating-page deliveries, some 100,000
in total, eventually to be liberated -- with almost 5,000
in the next few weeks. . . so, here is the text
of judge bates latest ruling (in blue):

MINUTE ORDER: Upon consideration of defendant's motion for clarification, and the entire record herein, it is hereby ORDERED that the motion is GRANTED; and it is further ORDERED that defendant shall process 1500 pages by not later than July 5, 2007. /S/ Signed by Judge John D. Bates on 6/28/2007.

now, we should shortly see some of it -- at least in
a summary form -- at the EFF website. . .

i'll report back when we've got something
worth talking about, here. . .