Lies the government told you by Andrew Napolitano (best e reader for epub TXT) 📗

any one of those people have since then been—whether wrongfully or rightfully—considered a suspicious foreigner by a single federal agent, which might even be a question of donating money to a foreign charity, then you can be the next target of an NSL.

Now originally, National Security Letters were only to be used to obtain information from financial institutions, like banks and credit unions. Those institutions were required to provide financial data in order to aid federal agencies in gathering information to prevent terrorism. And, of course, originally these records would be provided without a warrant, only for those who were the target of a terrorism investigation. Then the Patriot Act amended this and allowed these to be the financial records of someone “sought for” a terrorism investigation, meaning that anyone who the government decides is worth investigating can be investigated, and the government can get records without a constitutional search warrant. And, of course, the Bush administration stressed that there was nothing to worry about, that this involved only financial institutions and would not affect the average American citizen.

But Republicans who ran the Congress in 2003 were not finished and decided to enact the Intelligence Authorization Act for the Fiscal Year 2004. This type of Act is passed every year and typically involves budgeting decisions for the coming year. President Bush signed this version of the Act into law on December 13th 2003, with no public notice, as it was “coincidentally” signed the same day that news of Saddam Hussein’s capture was made public.17 Unfortunately for the American people, one section of this Act amended the definition of “financial institution” in the Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1978. The definition of “financial institution” as amended includes pawnbrokers, jewelry stores, car dealers, casinos, travel agents, physicians, health care officials, lawyers, and finally “any business . . . which engages in any activity which the Secretary of Treasury determines . . . to be an activity which is similar to . . . any business described in this paragraph is authorized to engage,”18 and that great financial institution to which we would all “eagerly” repose our savings, the U.S. Post Office.

Basically, this opened the door to any business that the federal government wanted the records of, including medical records, telephone records, computer keystrokes, legal records, and records from your corner bodega.19 And, as one Congressman noted, the language in the Act “only vaguely limits this expanded definition to financial information.”20

The government can compel all your records, and needs only to satisfy itself that the information it is gathering is sought in connection with an investigation into terrorism or foreign intelligence gathering. That’s all; the agents are not even required to show to a superior that the information they collect is relevant to that investigation, just that they are in the process of an investigation. Anyone who receives an NSL cannot reveal that fact to anybody, even you as the target, for fear of criminal prosecution.

In 2005 it was uncovered that during one investigation of Las Vegas businesses, the FBI had issued tens of thousands of NSLs and obtained over a million financial, employment, and medical records of the customers of the target of the investigation. So your medical records, your financial records, and any other records that the government deems necessary will be opened for the world. And there will be not a thing you can do about it. All this, perhaps, because you spoke with the person sitting next to you on an airplane who was deemed suspicious by the government.

Be Careful What You Read

Dear reader, since you have actually picked up and read this book, it might be a little late for a warning. Just in case you thought you were safe to read whatever you choose, I want to warn you that your reading habits may be monitored for “suspicious” behavior. Considering the title of this book, your name might now be on a list authorized by the Patriot Act, which permits the FBI to review any tangible record, including reading habits. And the targets of these reading habit investigations need not be terrorists; the government does not even have to show the secret FISA court that the person is linked in any way to terrorism. Instead, all agents are required to show to themselves is that the records are required for an investigation of terrorism.

Even now, the Department of Justice has actually claimed that the secret FISA court has no authority to reject requests for FISA orders because all of them are acceptable, even when the primary purpose has nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism.21 The libraries and bookstores required to provide the surveillance information cannot reveal or notify anyone of that fact. And, like with National Security Letters, there is no judicial oversight of the secret warrants permitting access to such records.22 The only limitation on access to such records is that the investigation cannot be launched solely if its basis is a First Amendment–protected activity; but if there is any other “unprotected” reason for the investigation, then that trumps the First Amendment.

The only bright light at the end of the tunnel is that librarians, after realizing the implications of the Act, have begun shredding records at the earliest possible time, so that they would not be able to provide the requested information under an NSL. But all that stands between what we choose to read and the government are the abilities of the librarians to shred faster than the government can collect.

No End in Sight

Democrats have admitted that the Patriot Act is unconstitutional, but they were willing to reauthorize the Act for four years, this coming from the party that is meant to stand for civil liberties and freedom.23 Even if the government admits to taking our liberties, trying to justify it by stating that it is necessary for our safety and security, would still be fallacious. No matter how often the government can claim to be able to protect us, and blame