New rules would expand FBI investigative tools - Via San Francisco Chronicle :

The Justice Department is finalizing rules that would allow FBI agents to solicit informants and use other new techniques to bolster the agency's intelligence-gathering operation in the United States, officials said Friday.

The changes would expand rules the department enacted after the Sept. 11 attacks that permitted the FBI to conduct "assessments" of threats of terrorism and espionage even in instances where little or no proof exists of criminal activity. Such assessments are separate from formal investigations, which can involve more invasive investigative methods but which require harder evidence.

Justice officials said the FBI has been hamstrung in carrying out the earlier mandate because the agency has been limited to "overt" intelligence-gathering techniques, such as permitting agents to conduct interviews only where they identify themselves.

But proposed revisions have sparked concerns among civil liberties groups that the FBI would have too much latitude to collect information on U.S. residents and would be allowed to track people based on race or ethnicity.

The new rules are expected to be signed in the next several weeks by Attorney General Michael Mukasey. Meanwhile, FBI agents are already being trained as if the new rules are in effect.

The House and Senate Judiciary committees are expected to question FBI Director Robert Mueller on the issue next week.

The revisions underscore the changing mandate of the FBI since the Sept. 11 attacks. While maintaining its traditional law-enforcement functions, the agency has been trying to beef up its domestic intelligence-gathering capabilities to root out terrorists before they can act.

That has led to different guidelines on the methods and techniques agents can use at different phases of investigations, depending on whether the probes involve potential crimes or national security concerns. In general, agents have been more constrained when working on national security matters.

Officials said the new rules would make it easier for the FBI to collect intelligence on the activities of foreign governments in the United States.

In assessing possible terrorist threats, agents are currently limited to conducting interviews and gathering data through public sources, such as the Internet.

The changes would allow agents to conduct physical surveillance in a public location, recruit and deploy informants and conduct interviews without identifying themselves.

The officials said those methods are already permitted in criminal cases. Agents would be unable to use methods such as physical searches or wiretaps, which are limited by statute or require court approval.

Civil liberties and privacy advocates, who were briefed on the rules Friday by Justice Department officials, said they feared that agents would use such factors as ethnicity or religions as the basis for a threat assessment.

They also questioned the wisdom of giving the agency new authority. The bureau has been criticized for how it has used some new powers it was granted in the aftermath of Sept. 11.

"Handing this kind of latitude to an organization already rife with internal oversight problems is a huge mistake," said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU's Washington office.

Justice officials said investigations would not be opened based solely on a person's race or religion. But they also said that in many cases, such considerations cannot be ignored.

"The reality is that a number of criminal and terror groups have very strong ethnic associations," said spokesman Brian Roehrkasse.

This article appeared on page A - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle

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