Daily Update

updated 11:00 a.m. ET November 24, 2003

FBI 'collecting information' about antiwar protestors

The New York Times reports that the FBI is collecting "extensive information on the tactics, training and organization of antiwar demonstrators and has advised local law enforcement officials to report any suspicious activity at protests to its counterterrorism squads." The Times report cited an interview and a confidential memorandum as the sources for its story.

The memorandum, which the bureau sent to local law enforcement agencies last month in advance of antiwar demonstrations in Washington and San Francisco, detailed how protesters have sometimes used "training camps" to rehearse for demonstrations, the Internet to raise money and gas masks to defend against tear gas. The memorandum analyzed lawful activities like recruiting demonstrators, as well as illegal activities like using fake documentation to get into a secured site.

But civil rights advocates and legal scholars worry that the moves are just the latest signal that the Justice Department and the FBI are returning to the 'bad old days' of the 60s and 70s, when the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover regularly spied on Americans they considered 'unAmerican.' The American Civil Liberties Union says the line between terrorism and legitimate civil disobedience is being blurred.

"What is the chilling effect that will be felt by Americans all across the country if they think they will come under FBI scrutiny just by going to a protest?" said Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

"This reminds me of the old Nixon times and the enemies list ... That, I think, is fundamental flaw of this administration. It is absolutely outrageous in terms of what this country is about. How could we be fighting abroad to defend our freedoms and diminishing those freedoms here at home?"

Civil rights activists are also pointing to US Attorney General John Ashcroft's decision to file new charges against civil rights lawyer Lynne Stewart as evidence of a government " vendetta" against those opposed to its policies. Ms. Stewart is accused of providing assistance to imprisoned radical Egyptian cleric Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman. The new charges against her come four months after similar charges were dismissed by Federal Judge John Koetl, who said the original charges were unconstitutionally vague and "reveal a lack of prosecutorial standards."

Meanwhile, the Senate gave final approval Friday to a measure that will make it easier for FBI agents investigating terrorism to demand financial records from casinos, car dealerships and other businesses. The approval comes just as new concerns are being raised that the Justice Department and the FBI are using the Patriot Act against crimes other than terrorism. Fox News reports that the Patriot Act was used to investigate a political scandal in Las Vegas (agents used the Act to bypass a grand jury and get financial records of strip club operators, as well as several prominent city and county officials), and that this use of the Act in a regular law enforcement case has critics crying foul.

"The administration presented the Patriot Act to the Congress two years ago as a carefully tailored and limited piece of legislation specific to targeting terrorism. And now they're using it for purposes that are obviously and completely unrelated to terrorism," former Rep. Bob Barr (R) of Georgia told Foxnews.com. [Mr. Barr originally supported the Act, but has since voiced concerns about the law.]

Treasury Department figures reviewed by Newsweek show that this year the Feds have used the Patriot Act to conduct searches on 962 suspects, yielding "hits" on 6,397 financial records. Of those, two thirds (4,261) were in money-laundering cases with no apparent terror connection. Among the agencies making requests, Newsweek has learned, were the IRS (which investigates tax fraud), the Postal Service (postal fraud) and the Secret Service (counterfeiting). One request came from the Agriculture Department – a case that apparently involved food-stamp fraud.

He also told an antiterrorism panel that forming a new intelligence agency would be unnecessary because the FBI has made significant improvements in its domestic intelligence gathering. The Associated Press reports his comments came a few days before The National Academy of Sciences concluded that a technique used by the FBI for decades to match bullets to crimes is flawed, a position that could hand defense lawyers a new avenue of attack against the agency's crime lab.

Also...
• American soldiers fear anti-US insurgency after brutal attack ( Associated Press)
• Moving targets: Is Al Qaeda preparing a big attack on America? ( Newsweek)
• Hope and confusion mark Iraq's democracy lessons ( Washington Post)
• Reform leader calls on US to pressure Israel, Jews to pressure US ( Ha'aretz)
• Germany's spy chief warns Al Qaeda threat rises on growth of anti-US mood in Arab world ( Associated Press)
• Dixie Chicks singer sounds off on war ( CNN)

• Feedback appreciated. E-mail Tom Regan .