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Bush and
Mukasey are at it again. They’ve announced dangerous new FBI guidelines
that will severely jeopardize the personal privacy of innocent
Americans. These regulations need no congressional approval and are
terrifying.
Just how far can the FBI go without any factual basis for suspecting
improper -- let alone illegal -- activity?
Under far-reaching new guidelines proposed by Attorney General Michael
Mukasey, the answer is frightening. All the FBI has to do to
put you or any American under prolonged physical surveillance is assert
an “authorized purpose” such as detecting or preventing crime or
protecting “national security.”
Sound familiar?
It’s the
same Bush/Cheney/Gonzales/Mukasey “just trust us” policies that have
been eroding our rights for the past eight years.
And like with Bush’s government spying and torture programs, there’s a
belief that government officials can ignore the law. In fact, we have
good reason to suspect that the FBI has been violating its own internal
guidelines all along and is now pushing these new guidelines to cover
up past wrongdoing.
That’s why we need to demand an investigation now, before these
outrageous guidelines are implemented. The Inspector General’s office
at the Department of Justice has proven to be an unbiased, internal
watchdog that has consistently exposed wrongdoing. We need to urge the
IG to do it again.
Act
now. Sign our petition to the Department of Justice Inspector General.
Urge an immediate investigation into whether the FBI has been engaging
in out-of-control investigative activities.
These new guidelines would allow the FBI to interview you, your friends
and your family under a false pretext. The FBI could recruit secret
informants and have them infiltrate peaceful protest groups. And
the FBI could initiate investigations based on little more than race,
ethnicity or religion.
The FBI could also search commercial databases for personal details
about your life with no real reason.
And all of this would be allowed without an ounce of evidence that you
or anyone else has done anything wrong.
Act
now. Sign our petition to the Department of Justice Inspector General.
The last thing we can afford is to let the FBI claim out-of-control
investigative powers in the closing months of the Bush administration.
Please act
today to help us challenge this dangerous plan to put your personal
privacy at risk.
In defense of freedom,
Anthony D. Romero
Executive Director
ACLU
P.S. You can read the ACLU’s letter to Glenn A. Fine, Inspector General
at the U.S. Department of Justice, by going
here.
©
ACLU, 125 Broad Street, 18th Floor New York, NY 10004
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