Reps. Mace, Raskin Request Watchdog Review of FBI Surveillance ‘Assessments’

“The FBI has opened investigations into people without any evidence of criminal wrongdoing, undermining our right to free speech and due process under the First Amendment,” said Rep. Nancy Mace. “Under the FBI’s 2008 guidelines, the Agency is free to use ‘intrusive investigative techniques,’ including informants and unlimited physical surveillance, on individuals and groups without any link to criminality. This is scary, and it is a violation of the Constitution, plain and simple.”

“We are concerned that FBI assessments operate as de facto investigations that can be launched without a factual predicate of criminal wrongdoing,” the Members wrote.  “We ask that GAO examine whether assessments result in the improper monitoring of protected First Amendment activity—including by political, racial, or religious organizations—and whether the FBI has sufficient controls in place to ensure that they do not run afoul of constitutional protections.”

Between December 2008 and March 2009, the FBI opened 11,667 assessments of individuals and groups under the 2008 Guidelines; only 427 developed into full investigations based on information collected. By 2011, the FBI had opened 82,235 similar assessments with fewer than 4,000 yielding any factual predicate to proceed with more intensive inquiries.

The FBI’s 2008 Guidelines were used to monitor various free speech activities across the country. For example:

The letter requests that GAO issue a report on the use of assessments from December 1, 2008 to the present, including an examination of the individuals and groups targeted by these investigations.

Click here to read the letter to GAO.