FBI agents' power expanded to gather info surreptitiously

Last update: October 3, 2008 - 9:24 PM

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WASHINGTON - Justice Department officials released new guidelines Friday that empower FBI agents to use intrusive techniques to gather intelligence within the United States. The new road map allows investigators to recruit informants, employ physical surveillance and conduct interviews in which agents disguise their identities to assess national-security threats.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey said the guidelines are necessary to fulfill the FBI's core mission to predict threats and respond even before an attack takes place.

The American Civil Liberties Union immediately condemned the road map. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said the grant of new authority to FBI agents flies in the face of recent history, including overreaching by agents who demanded too much secret information from telephone companies and Internet service providers as part of investigations.

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