The FBI's controversial use of National Security Letters to illegally obtain phone, email and banking records of American citizens will be under the microscope again today as an NSL recipient testifies in front of Congress about his experience.
George Christian, a librarian who received an NSL and a gag order after someone made a terrorist threat on a computer in a Connecticut library, will tell a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee why he refused to comply with the NSL. With the help of the ACLU, Christian challenged the gag order in court. The gag order was lifted last year, enabling Christian to testify today.
In related news, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has sued the Justice Department to force the FBI to release all records concerning the illegal use of NSLs. The EFF claims the FBI is dragging its feet and has failed to meet a 20-day timeline set by Congress.
We tend to agree. The FBI has been anything but responsive to our requests for more information on NSLs. We filed an expedited FOIA request three weeks ago for contracts the FBI has with phone companies and ISPs. Looks like the EFF got their FOIA (.pdf) in 10 days ahead of us.
