National Security and a Less-Restrained FBI | Julian Sanchez | Cato Institute: Commentary

National Security and a Less-Restrained FBI | Julian Sanchez | Cato Institute: Commentary: "In 2008, we were told these rules would give the FBI the flexibility it needed to 'proactively' ferret out national security threats. Now the FBI says these lax limits on its power are still too cumbersome: The next edition of the bureau's operational manual will give agents leeway to search all those databases with no approval or explanation, without opening an assessment and creating a paper trail."

"According to a 2010 report from the Office of the Inspector General, FBI analysts refused to use an electronic system that would track demands for sensitive phone and Internet records, on the grounds that entering all that data was too burdensome."

"If the FBI thinks you might make a useful informant, agents will be free to dig through your garbage in hopes of finding embarrassing trash that might encourage you to cooperate. And they will be able to do this without first having to show any evidence that you are engaged in wrongdoing."