Monday’s Washington Post reveals that it has obtained previously classified documents from the Electronic Privacy Information Center which has sued the Justice Department for those papers in relation to potential abuses of the so-called “Patriot” Act.

Records turned over as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit also indicate that the FBI has investigated hundreds of potential violations related to its use of secret surveillance operations, which have been stepped up dramatically since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks but are largely hidden from public view.

In one case, FBI agents kept an unidentified target under surveillance for at least five years — including more than 15 months without notifying Justice Department lawyers after the subject had moved from New York to Detroit. An FBI investigation concluded that the delay was a violation of Justice guidelines and prevented the department “from exercising its responsibility for oversight and approval of an ongoing foreign counterintelligence investigation of a U.S. person.”

In other cases, agents obtained e-mails after a warrant expired, seized bank records without proper authority and conducted an improper “unconsented physical search,” according to the documents.

FBI officials told WaPo, “none of the cases have involved major violations and most amount to administrative errors.”

That is far from comforting considering how secretive the oversight of FBI practices is, which the WaPo article describes in detail.

Chip Pitts of The Nation reminds us that “none of the provisions of the law [the Patriot Act] that were slated to sunset now appear likely to do so.” And, there’s been a lot of arm-twisting and misinformation in the form of misleading Republican talking points used behind the scenes to see that the Patriot Act stays as is. (read the full article for more…).

It is now well-known that truth is not this Administration’s cardinal virtue. What is less well-known is how sustained and deceptive a campaign has been waged to retain the broad powers of the Patriot Act.

and…

Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee James F. Sensenbrenner joined many in the latest floor debate in maintaining that “there is no evidence that the Patriot Act has been used to violate civil liberties.” But this position ignores both the fact that the mere existence of such broad powers chills rights and is abusive, and the serious evidence of specific abuses that has come to light.

One man’s violation of civil liberties is, apparently, another man’s “administrative error”.