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A provision of an intelligence spending bill will expand the power of the FBI to subpoena business documents and transactions from a broader range of businesses -- everything from libraries to travel agencies to eBay -- without first seeking approval from a judge. American Hostage Free * 40 Fed May Lay Groundwork for Rate Hike * 41 Britain Launches Probe Into Iraq Abuse Photos * 42 More Breaking News * 43 Wire Service Photo Gallery Tech Jobs Partner 44 Today's the Day. Under the Patriot Act, the FBI can acquire bank records and Internet or phone logs simply by issuing itself a so-called national security letter saying the records are relevant to an investigation into terrorism. The FBI doesn't need to show probable cause or consult a judge. What's more, the target institution is issued a gag order and kept from revealing the subpoena's existence to anyone, including the subject of the investigation. A draft -- dubbed Patriot II -- was leaked and caused such an uproar that Justice officials backed down. The new provision inserts one of the most controversial aspects of Patriot II into the spending bill. Intelligence spending bills are considered sensitive, so they are usually drafted in secret and approved without debate or public comment. Dempsey, executive director of the 46 Center for Democracy and Technology, echoed Shroeder's analysis. Timothy Edgar, legislative counsel for the 47 American Civil Liberties Union, decried the expansion of an executive power that is not subject to judicial oversight. Your use of this website constitutes acceptance of the Lycos 67 Privacy Policy and 68 Terms & Conditions Note: You are reading this message either because you can not see our css files (served from Akamai for performance reasons), or because you do not have a standards-compliant browser.
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