Memo: FBI destroyed evidence in bin Laden case after glitch with e-mail surveillance system

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/05/28/national1704EDT0711.DTL

D. IAN HOPPER
AP Technology Writer 
Tuesday, May 28, 2002 

An internal FBI memo says agents destroyed evidence gathered in an
investigation involving Osama bin Laden's network after its e-mail
wiretap system mistakenly captured information to which the agency was
not entitled.

The FBI software not only picked up the e-mails of its target "but
also picked up e-mails on non-covered targets," said a March 2000 memo
to agency headquarters in Washington.

"The FBI technical person was apparently so upset that he destroyed
all the e-mail take, including the take on" the suspect, the memo
said.

A Justice Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity,
said Tuesday night that the e-mails were not destroyed. The official
did not elaborate or try to reconcile the statement with the memo.

The episode was described in documents made public through a Freedom
of Information Act request filed by the Electronic Privacy Information
Center, a Washington advocacy group. The material was not included in
an original release but became public after a federal judge ordered
the bureau to give out more documents.

At issue was an investigation in Denver in which the FBI's bin Laden
unit was using the bureau's Carnivore system to conduct electronic
surveillance of a suspect under a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Act warrant.

The suspect's name and other information identifying details of the
investigation were marked out of the letter.

The memo surfaced as the FBI was addressing concerns it mishandled
aspects of terrorism investigation prior to the Sept. 11 attacks.  
Those concerns include a warning from its Phoenix office about Arab
pilots training in the United States last July.

As an outgrowth of that and other much-criticized FBI actions before
the attacks, the agency is to form a new office of intelligence and
strengthen its oversight of counterterror investigations. Attorney
General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller were expected to
outline high-profile changes Wednesday at the FBI's headquarters,
including closer ties to the CIA and an overhaul of the FBI's outdated
computer systems.

FBI officials refused on Tuesday to discuss the Carnivore memo or the
investigation it referred to. They did, however, say that the bin
Laden unit at FBI headquarters handles only investigations involving
suspected activity by his terror network.

The memo shows FBI agents were worried about the fallout in the Denver
case.

The Justice Department's Office of Intelligence and Policy Review was
furious after learning the evidence captured by the e-mail wiretap
system was destroyed because of the glitch, the memo states.

"To state that she was unhappy at ITOS (International Terrorism
Operations Center) and the UBL (bin Laden) unit is an understatement,"  
the memo stated, quoting a Justice official.

The memo said Justice officials worried the destruction of the
evidence would signal an "inability on the part of the FBI to manage"  
the warrants that are key tools in espionage and anti-terrorism cases.

Privacy groups and some members of Congress have complained that
Carnivore had the potential to collect more information than allowed
by a warrant.

"Here's confirmation of the fact that not only did it do that, but it
resulted in a loss of legitimately acquired intelligence," said David
Sobel, general counsel of EPIC.

To allay Congress's concerns, FBI General Counsel Larry Parkinson
testified in July 2000, "We do not deploy (Carnivore) in a way that
exceeds the court order."

The e-mail from an unnamed author to M.E. "Spike" Bowman, the FBI's
associate general counsel for national security, said Denver agents
installed the e-mail surveillance system in March 16, 2000, but the
device did not work correctly.

Henry Perritt, who led a team authorized by the FBI to review the
surveillance system, said he was surprised the technician deleted the
e-mails.

"The collection is supposed to be retained for judicial review,"  
Perritt said. "If an agent simply deleted a whole bunch of files
without the court instructing, that's not the way it's supposed to
work."

Another document released through the privacy group's request explains
the bureau's policy for overcollection on a surveillance warrant. The
memo, dated just a week after the Denver e-mail, says the e-mails
should be kept under seal so that senior FBI officials can figure out
how the wiretap went wrong.

The unintended targets of the FBI's snooping may have deserved
notification that the mistake was made, the FBI memo said.

Authorities have used Carnivore-type tools more than 25 times in all
types of criminal cases, to catch fugitives, drug dealers,
extortionists and suspected foreign intelligence agents. Carnivore is
now called DCS-1000.




-
ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org

To unsubscribe email majordomo () attrition org with 'unsubscribe isn'
in the BODY of the mail.