Here's yet another reason to impeach Alberto Gonzales (remember I speak for me only on this, not Talk Left); from Ralph Neas and People for the American Way:

Americans learned today that the F.B.I. has been abusing its authority under the Patriot Act to obtain private information about American citizens without judicial approval. So says a report issued today by the Department of Justice’s inspector general.

At issue are “national security letters”—an executive branch mechanism that was greatly expanded by the Patriot Act and essentially allows the government to circumvent the longstanding requirement that warrants be obtained before individuals’ private data, such as telephone records, bank statements, or Internet data can be examined without those individuals’ approval. According to the inspector general’s report, the F.B.I. has been obtaining national security letters inappropriately or even illegally and the result has been an unwarranted intrusion into Americans’ privacy.

“This scandalous abuse of power is exactly why we opposed the Patriot Act in the first place,” said Ralph G. Neas, president of People For the American Way, a national nonpartisan civil rights and liberties organization with more than one million members and activists. “Our nation’s founders made the judiciary an independent check on the executive branch of government for a reason. They knew that without checks and balances, it is far too easy for government officials to abuse their power to the detriment of our constitutional rights. That’s exactly what we’re seeing now. The Patriot Act undermines checks and balances, and this is the consequence.”