Bad Deeds for 1-25-2008

FBI and CIA Using National Security Letters to Spy on Americans – After the 2001 USA Patriot Act loosened the guidelines, the FBI issued tens of thousands of national security letters, a kind of administrative subpoena that compels private businesses such as telecommunications companies to turn over information to the government, something critics say amounts to warrantless spying on Americans who have not been charged with crimes. Now, newly released documents shed light on the use of the letters by the CIA. The spy agency has employed them to obtain financial information about U.S. residents and does so under extraordinary secrecy. The CIA’s requests for financial records come with “gag orders” on the recipients, said ACLU lawyer Melissa Goodman. In many cases, she said, the recipient is not allowed to keep a copy of the letter or even take notes about the information turned over to the CIA.

False E-mails Claim Obama is a Radical Muslim and a Racist Christian – One claims that Obama is “certainly a racist” by virtue of belonging to Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ, which it says “will accept only black parishoners” and espouses a commitment to Africa. Actually, a white theology professor says he’s been “welcomed enthusiastically” at the church, as have other non-blacks. Another e-mail claims that Obama “is a Muslim,” attended a “Wahabi” school in Indonesia, took his Senate oath on the Koran, refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and is part of an Islamic plot to take over the U.S. Each of these statements is false.

Mitt Romney Says, “Well, I’m not concerned about the voters.” – During a back and forth with debate moderator Tim Russert, after Romney was asked how much of his own money he has donated to his presidential campaign. “We’ll report that on the 31st of January, as required by law, and probably not a minute earlier. You’ll just have to wait, Tim,” Romney said.

“But why not tell the voters of Florida and across the country how much of your own wealth you’re spending, so they can make a judgment and factor that into their own decision?” Russert responded.

“Well, I’m not concerned about the voters,” Romney replied. “I’m much more concerned about the other guys on this stage. And we have some competitive information that we make sure that we use for our own benefit.

EPA Hiding Facts to Prevent Higher Vehicle Emissions Standards – The Senate Environment & Public Works Committee demanded that EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson produce documents explaining his decision to reject an effort by California and 18 other states to raise vehicle emissions standards and fight global warming. Eleven days past its deadline, the EPA finally turned over some documents — but heavily redacted the materials and provided censored pages rather than the facts we deserve. What’s more, we’re still waiting on hundreds more documents to be handed over.

Regards,

Jim