Gonzales said one code from the act that was used deals with extending the duration of electronic surveillance. Another makes it easier to obtain warrants to search the private residences of U.S. citizens -- a provision that has raised concerns about constitutional guarantees against unreasonable searches and seizures.
The FBI confirmed the use of sneak and peeks against Mayfield days ago. Of course, Mayfield's lawyer knew it the whole time, as we reported in May, 2004.
TChris reported on the false impression the Justice Department is giving Congress on sneak and peaks. They have increased 75% since 2000, and they are not just used in terror cases:
[T]he FBI also uses the warrants in ”plain vanilla” criminal investigations that have nothing to do with terrorism. ... The warrants have been used to break into homes, offices, hotel rooms and cars, install hidden cameras, search luggage, eavesdrop on telephone conversations, intercept emails, and gain access to safe deposit boxes.
Sen. Russ Feingold has introduced to a bill to end sneak and peeks.
The Administration has never denied its use of Patriot Act provisions in non-terror cases. Here's a little bit of how it spun such use back in 2003:
If you have ever wondered to what extent Bush and the Justice Department would go to obtain expanded powers in the name of the terror war, the answer is becoming very clear. The Administration is becoming a master at using the media to condition us to their next power grab.
....The Administration has let us all know they always intended to use the Patriot Act in non-terror cases and that they have and will continue to do so. Expecting a backlash, they now put out the word that Al Qaeda and other terror organizations are hiding cash in petty criminal activities. The only way to stop the terrorists now is to increase the use of terror powers for non-terror crimes. This, they will argue, is why Congress should pass laws like Rep. Tom Feeney's H.R. 3037, the "Antiterrorism Tools Enhancement Act of 2003" ( analysis here) and Sen. Orrin Hatch's The Victory Act which redesignates many drug crimes as "narco-terrorist offenses" and then grants extra power in the executive branch to combat them. Like more sneak and peek searches, wiretaps, subpoenas and asset seizures without the judicial oversight required by the Constitution in traditional criminal cases.
This is just so transparent. The Administration feeds one reporter about why it is within its rights to use the Patriot Act to investigate non-terror crimes. It feeds another on its speculation that it hasn't seized more terrorist money with money laundering laws because the money isn't being laundered, it's being hidden through routine crime. Ergo, the Administration will claim next, we need more terror laws to go after routine, non-terror crimes. Terror laws that allow the Justice Department to bypass the Fourth Amendment and its required judicial oversight.
