If You're Surprised, You're a Fool

And we believe that these instances will continue to surface for years and years to come. We have done nothing but regress the entire course of humanity with George Bush's ravings.

FBI Misused Patriot Act, Audit Finds
By LARA JAKES JORDAN, AP

WASHINGTON (March 9) - The FBI improperly and, in some cases, illegally used the USA Patriot Act to secretly obtain personal information about people in the United States, a Justice Department audit concluded Friday.

The FBI for three years underreported the number of times it required businesses to turn over personal customer information under the Patriot Act, a Justice Department audit said.

And for three years the FBI underreported to Congress how often it forced businesses to turn over the customer data, the audit found.

FBI Director Robert Mueller said he was to blame for not putting more safeguards into place.

"I am to be held accountable," Mueller said. He told reporters he would correct the problems and did not plan to resign.

"The inspector general went and did the audit that I should have put in place many years ago," Mueller said.

The audit by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine found that FBI agents sometimes demanded personal data on individuals without proper authorization. The 126-page audit also found the FBI improperly obtained telephone records in non-emergency circumstances.

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