Congress Expected to Approve Wiretap Bill Today

ABA Journal  Congress is expected to approve legislation today that updates the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and expands government power to obtain broad foreign intelligence warrants.

Recent reports emphasize the bill’s protection for telecommunications companies that aided the government’s wiretap efforts. But a Wall Street Journal story (sub. req.) says provisions that allow intelligence officials to obtain more sweeping wiretap orders may be more important. They allow broad warrants to wiretap foreign targets whose communications pass through U.S. telecommunications networks.

The story says the law may lead to further expansions of the use of foreign intelligence in criminal cases here. Rules barring sharing of foreign intelligence with U.S. prosecutors have been relaxed since Sept. 11, resulting in dozens of criminal cases. Critics say prosecutors have used permissive wiretap regulations under the law to obtain evidence that would be more difficult to get because of Fourth Amendment protections.

The story mentions two criminal cases based on information obtained under the law. One accuses a

California computer engineer of providing material support to his brother, a member of a terrorist group in the Philippines. The other resulted in what turned out to be mistaken accusations against lawyer Brandon Mayfield, who was initially arrested in connection with the 2004 Madrid train bombings. The government later released Mayfield and apologized for the error.

Podcast  "The Cost of Counter-Terrorism"  Scott Drake and Stanford Law Scholar Laura Donohue