FBI chief takes blame for misuse of Patriot Act
The FBI improperly and, in some cases, illegally used the USA Patriot Act to secretly obtain personal information about people in the United States, a Justice Department audit concluded today.
And for three years the FBI underreported to Congress how often it forced businesses to turn over the customer data, the audit found.
FBI director Robert Mueller said he was to blame for not putting more safeguards into place.
“I am to be held accountable,” Mueller said.
He told reporters he would correct the problems and did not plan to resign.
“The inspector general went and did the audit that I should have put in place many years ago,” Mueller said.
The audit by Justice Department inspector general Glenn Fine found that FBI agents sometimes demanded personal data on individuals without proper authorisation.
The 126-page audit also found the FBI improperly obtained telephone records in non-emergency circumstances.
The audit blames agent error and shoddy record-keeping for the bulk of the problems and did not find any indication of criminal misconduct.
“The report indicates abuse of the authority” Congress gave the FBI, said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy.