Welcome to Gonzales Watch - Blawging the Ex-Attorney General

When a rookie FBI agent violated federal law restricting the collection of personal financial information, the agency notified the President’s Intelligence Oversight Board (’IOB’) and the Department of Justice.

How serious was the violation? Julie Thomas, the FBI’s Deputy General Counsel, was apparently so concerned about the agent’s violation of the Right to Financial Privacy Act (’RFPA’) that she sent a notice of the violation by courier to Brent Scowcroft, the IOB Chairman at the time.

Under the RFPA, an aggrieved party can seek civil damages against a person or entity who violates the law. The FBI admission letter from the agency’s lawyers spelled out this concern.

Even though the agent “did not realize that she had acted in contravention of the RFPA and Bureau policy,” the FBI’s legal team concluded that her conduct “was wilful and intentional.” In other words, when the agent broke the law, she violated not only federal law, but her employer’s HR policies.

The violation of federal law, and the FBI’s lawyers urgent admission of the breach, is the subject of an article in this morning’s Washington Post.

The focus on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales concerning a violation of federal law that was reported in October 2004, when he was still White House Counsel, has less to with the fact that it happened, and everything to do with Gonzales’ testimony to Congress the Spring of 2005 when he said under oath that there still no “verified case of civil liberties abuse” under the Patriot Act.

On Tuesday, Gonzales testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that when he testified about abuse of civil liberties two years ago, that he was only referring to “intentional abuse.”

“My view and the views of other leadership in the department is, in fact, we’re talking about abuses of the Patriot Act, we’re talking about intentional, deliberate misuse of the Patriot Act,” the Attorney General told inquiring Senate Judiciary Committee members.

It is unclear from the documents detailing the FBI’s conduct and liability whether the agent was reprimanded. Washington Post reporter John Solomon does not discuss this aspect of the breach in his investigative report.

As President Bush seeks more surveillance powers overseas, under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, violations of federal law at home are sure to come under far greater scrutiny.