Wiretaps sought in record numbers

By Richard Willing, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department last year sought and received permission from a secret federal court to place a record 880 wiretaps in spying and terrorism investigations, department records show.

An FBI official says the taps demonstrate increased interest in pursuing foreign agents operating on U.S. soil, including some linked to Mideast terrorist groups.

Arab-Americans and civil libertarians decried the taps, in part because the secret federal court is not required to tell targets why the taps were sought. When wiretaps are ordered in other federal investigations, court proceedings usually are part of the public record.

"We're concerned over the disregard we see for civil liberties in this administration," says James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, a civic and political group based in Washington. The wiretaps, which are applied for by the Justice Department and usually carried out by the FBI or National Security Agency, have increased dramatically during the Clinton administration. By contrast, 484 such wiretaps were authorized the year before Clinton took office.

The administration sought 601 federal wiretaps in ordinary criminal investigations in 1999. "The increase (in spying and terrorist wiretaps) is troubling because of the lack of accountability in the secret process," says author and electronic privacy advocate David Banisar. The wiretap records were obtained by privacy advocates under a federal Freedom of Information Act request and reviewed by USA TODAY. The Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment.

The Justice Department's records do not show how many of the wiretaps led to prosecutions.

The secret wiretap court was created by the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. It was designed to check the power of presidents who authorized wiretaps and searches that didn't require warrants based on possible threats to national security.

The court has approved more than 13,600 wiretap requests in 22 years and has rejected one.