Key parts of Patriot Act expire; what options do feds still have for investigating terrorism?
Three key provisions of the Patriot Act expired today, forcing terrorism investigators to use more traditional techniques or to rely on a grandfather clause for investigations already underway.
The provisions expired in the face of opposition by U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and a Senate rule allowing for 30 hours of debate, report the New York Times, the Washington Post and NPR. In a floor speech, Paul said he opposed moving collection of the data to the phone companies, part of compromise legislation called the USA Freedom Act. As a result of his action, a new bill won’t pass until at least Tuesday.
“The point we wanted to make is, we can still catch terrorists using the Constitution,” Paul said. “I’m supportive of the part that ends bulk collection by the government. My concern is that we might be exchanging bulk collection by the government [with] bulk collection by the phone companies.”
According to the Times, the expired provisions had been invoked by the government for bulk collection of phone records by the National Security Agency. Other expired provisions allowed wiretap orders for “lone wolf” terrorism suspects who aren’t part of a foreign group, allowed roving wiretap orders for suspects who change phones, and provided for court orders requiring businesses to turn over records that are relevant to a national security investigation.
The New York Times considered alternatives available to terrorism investigators after expiration of the key provisions. The government will still have the authority to use the expired laws for any investigation that is already underway, though officials have said they won’t use that authority for bulk records collection. The FBI can also use grand jury subpoenas for needed records, and it can use national security letters to obtain records.
Updated at 11:36 a.m. to change the headline.
