Lawmakers Seek to Limit FBI Power to Secretly Demand Documents
On Sunday, Republicans and Democrats in Congress called for greater restrictions on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's ability to demand business and personal records in terrorism investigations without a judge's approval and to retain the records indefinitely. They were responding to an article published that day in The Washington Post about the government's increasing use of what are known as national security letters to demand records from businesses and institutions, without a judge's approval, to aid in terrorism and intelligence investigations.
Lawmakers Call for Limits on F.B.I. Power to Demand Records in Terrorism Investigations, New York Times, November 7, 2005.
