The current federal administration is in its last months, but its efforts to expand powers of surveillance is unslaked. The ACLU reports on the latest federal power grab:
Under far-reaching new guidelines proposed by Attorney General Michael Mukasey…[a]ll 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.”
….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….
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.