Justice Department Defends Legally Questionable Eavesdropping Program
The Justice Department is defending the DEA’s legally questionable, disbanded eavesdropping program that often was used by drug officials in the Los Angeles suburbs.
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FBI Pumps Up Enforcement of U.S. Companies That Win Contracts Through Bribery
The FBI is using wiretaps and informants to help infiltrate crooked dealings.
FBI to Step Up Wiretaps, Other Surveillance After Terrorist Attacks in Paris
After Islamic State supporters attacked Paris, killing more than 125 people, the FBI plans to use more wiretaps and other monitoring techniques on suspected sympathizers of the terrorist organization.
DEA More Than Triples Use of Wiretaps, Other Surveillance Over Past Decade
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The DEA’s use of wiretaps and other electronic surveillance more than tripled in the past decade, often bypassing courts and federal prosecutors, according to newly obtained records, the USA Today reports. The DEA used electronic surveillance 11,681 times in the last fiscal year, compared to just 3,394 a decade ago. The…
Judge Chastises FBI for Listening to Too Much, But Won’t Ban All Recordings
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com A federal judge on Wednesday chastised the FBI for listening to wiretapped conversations that were private or irrelevant, calling the agency’s action “unnecessary”, “voyaeuristic” and “disgraceful.” But he refused a request by the defense to bar all tapes from being used in an upcoming insider trading trial in Manhattan. Defendant Craig…
FBI’s Mueller Pushes to Expand Telecom Wiretap Laws
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com WASHINGTON — FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III is pushing to update laws to help agents keep up with the rapidly changing technology so they can effectively conduct surveillance of communications in anti-terrorism and other cases. At a conference of intelligence experts in Washington, Mueller said there have been instances in…
FBI’s Pete Cullen Who Ran Blago Wiretaps Retires at 61 as Most Senior Agent in the Nation
FBI agent Pete Cullen should have retired in 2006 when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 57. But the FBI wanted to keep him around for his expertise. He ended up running the wire taps on ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who is currently on trial. Last week, after getting extensions to stay, he finally retired…
Fed and State Wiretaps Jumped 26 Percent in 2009
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com WASHINGTON — Court authorized wiretaps issued by federal and state judges in criminal cases jumped 26 percent from 2008 to 2009, and not one request was turned down, the website WIRED reported. Citing a report released Friday by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, WIRED reported that courts authorized 2,376…