Gonzales Alerted to FBI Misdeeds

The FBI alerted Alberto Gonzales that agents had violated privacy regulations at least six times in the weeks before he told a Senate committee that no abuses had occurred, the Washington Post reports. The 2005 and 2006 internal reports detailed numerous problems with FBI activities under the Patriot Act, but DoJ says it doesn't know whether the AG read them.

The violations—some of department regulations, some of federal law—include improper use of national security letters, illegal searches and surveillance, and unauthorized data collection. Six days after one notification, the AG appeared before the intelligence committee in support of the Patriot Act and testified that "There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse." (More Alberto Gonzales stories.)