Mysterious New FBI Proposal May Redefine Privacy, Chutzpah

According to four U.S. senators, the FBI is in the process of making a pretty audacious policy proposal. Nobody outside of Congress and the Bush administration seems to know exactly what they're asking for, but the early reviews are less than promising.  The New York Times reports:

The plan, which could be made public next month, has already generated intense interest and speculation. Little is known about its precise language, but civil liberties advocates say they fear it could give the government even broader license to open terrorism investigations.

Congressional staff members got a glimpse of some of the details in closed briefings this month, and four Democratic senators told Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey in a letter on Wednesday that they were troubled by what they heard.

The senators said the new guidelines would allow the F.B.I. to open an investigation of an American, conduct surveillance, pry into private records and take other investigative steps "without any basis for suspicion." The plan "might permit an innocent American to be subjected to such intrusive surveillance based in part on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or on protected First Amendment activities," the letter said. It was signed by Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey, meanwhile, argues that...

... the F.B.I. would still need a "valid purpose" for an investigation, and that it could not be "simply based on somebody's race, religion, or exercise of First Amendment rights."

Except that we know it has been--many times--since 9/11.  So until we're actually provided with the text of the new FBI policy, it's probably best to operate on the assumption that Feingold, Durbin, Kennedy, and Whitehouse are telling the truth, and that Mukasey is not.  After all, the purpose of this policy--like most of the Bush post-9/11 policies we've seen over the past year--is to put existing policies in writing, not to create new ones.  When it comes to the Bush administration and citizens' privacy rights, it's clearly easier to ask forgiveness than permission.

Related: History of Government Surveillance Programs