DoJ Inspector General: FBI "Improperly" Spied On Activists

The ACLU has posted a statement regarding the release of the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General report, A Review of the FBI’s Investigations of Certain Domestic Advocacy Groups (PDF).

There's a lot to look at and laugh and fear in this report. Nice to know that civil disobedience can be a reason to open a terrorist investigation, or that throwing blood on a federal building or a U.S. flag (are you listening, Sen. Feinstein?) is a “forceful” act that would warrant classifying the act as an act of terrorism, as “wilful injury” to U.S. property is listed (or was in 2002) as an offense in the definition of the federal crime of terrorism. (See page 148 of report as the FBI goes after that notorious group, the Catholic Workers!).

Haven’t by any means read this whole report, which appears a classic partial admission of crimes, without any real accountability, or admission that the sum total of these events represent attacks upon Constitutional rights.

"Improper" says the DoJ IG, not illegal restraints against the first amendment. Just like the actions of Yoo and Bybee were the result of "bad judgment" and not illegal and unprofessional actions by attorneys in thrall to the Executive, hell-bent on torture.

As the ACLU statement makes clear, the FBI has such a long history of breaking the law and targeting individuals for political activity that there is no way this is not a continuation of that history. I'm glad this information is out there, but history also shows that the police and intelligence agencies of the state are highly resistant to reforms. I'm not sure what, under the current political configuration of this country, can be done, but vigiliance and exposure are, for now, our only tools in defending ourselves. If there is to be reform, it will have to be far more stringent that what we have seen in the past.

From the ACLU press release:

Investigation Was Prompted By ACLU FOIA Lawsuit That Turned Up Evidence Of Unlawful Surveillance

WASHINGTON – The FBI improperly spied on American activists involved in First Amendment-protected activities and mischaracterized nonviolent civil disobedience as terrorism which improperly placed activists on terrorist watch lists, according to a report out today by the Justice Department’s Inspector General. Inspector General Glenn A. Fine undertook his investigation after a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the American Civil Liberties Union uncovered evidence that the FBI was chilling political association and improperly investigating peaceful advocacy groups.

The Inspector General (IG) found the improper investigations were often opened based on “factually weak” or even “speculative” justifications, and were sometimes extended in duration without sufficient basis. The IG said that the low standard for opening investigations under the 2002 Attorney General Guidelines, which required only the “possibility” of a federal crime, contributed to the problem.

The FBI also made false and misleading statements to Congress and the American public to mute criticism over its unlawful spying activities, including a false claim that improper surveillance of a 2002 anti-war protest in Pittsburgh was related to a separate, validly approved FBI investigation. This false information was repeated by FBI Director Robert Mueller before Congress and in communications between the Bureau and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT).

The following can be attributed to Michael German, ACLU Senior Policy Counsel and former FBI agent:

“The FBI has a long history of abusing its national security surveillance powers, reaching back to the smear campaign waged by the American government against Dr. Martin Luther King. Americans peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights were able to become targets of FBI surveillance because spying guidelines that were established after the shameful abuses of the 60s and 70s were loosened in 2002. Unfortunately, they were loosened again in 2008, even after this abuse was uncovered.

“Unless the rules regulating the FBI are strengthened to safeguard the privacy of innocent Americans, we are all in danger of being spied on and added to terrorist watch lists for doing nothing more than attending a rally or holding up a sign.”

See also the take on this story by Marcy Wheeler, while here is the Washington Post story on the report's release.