This story was originally published on June 30, 2016. We are republishing it along with new reporting on other FBI documents.
Secret FBI rules allow agents to obtain journalists’ phone records with approval from two internal officials — far less oversight than under normal judicial procedures.
The classified rules, obtained by The Intercept and dating from 2013, govern the FBI’s use of national security letters, which allow the bureau to obtain information about journalists’ calls without going to a judge or informing the news organization being targeted. They have previously been released only in heavily redacted form.
Media advocates said the documents show that the FBI imposes few constraints on itself when it bypasses the requirement to go to court and obtain subpoenas or search warrants before accessing journalists’ information.
The rules stipulate that obtaining a journalist’s records with a national security letter requires the signoff of the FBI’s general counsel and the executive assistant director of the bureau’s National Security Branch, in addition to the regular chain of approval. Generally speaking, there are a variety of FBI officials, including the agents in charge of field offices, who can sign off that an NSL is “relevant” to a national security investigation.
There is an extra step under the rules if the NSL targets a journalist in order “to identify confidential news media sources.” In that case, the general counsel and the executive assistant director must first consult with the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
But if the NSL is trying to identify a leaker by targeting the records of the potential source, and not the journalist, the Justice Department doesn’t need to be involved.
The guidelines also specify that the extra oversight layers do not apply if the journalist is believed to be a spy or is part of a news organization “associated with a foreign intelligence service” or “otherwise acting on behalf of a foreign power.” Unless, again, the purpose is to identify a leak, in which case the general counsel and executive assistant director must approve the request.
“These supposed rules are incredibly weak and almost nonexistent — as long as they have that second signoff, they’re basically good to go,” said Trevor Timm, executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, which has sued the Justice Department for the release of these rules. “The FBI is entirely able to go after journalists and with only one extra hoop they have to jump through.”
A spokesperson for the FBI, Christopher Allen, declined to comment on the rules or say if they had been changed since 2013, except to say that they are “very clear” that “the FBI cannot predicate investigative activity solely on the exercise of First Amendment rights.”
The Obama administration has come under criticism for bringing a record number of leak prosecutions and aggressively targeting journalists in the process. In 2013, after it came out that the Justice Department had secretly seized records from phone lines at the Associated Press and surveilled Fox News reporter James Rosen, then-Attorney General Eric Holder tightened the rules for when prosecutors could go after journalists. The new policies emphasized that reporters would not be prosecuted for “newsgathering activities,” and that the government would “seek evidence from or involving the news media” as a “last resort” and an “extraordinary measure.” The FBI could not label reporters as co-conspirators in order to try to identify their sources — as had happened with Rosen — and it became more difficult to get journalists’ phone records without notifying the news organization first.
Yet these changes did not apply to NSLs. Those are governed by a separate set of rules, laid out in a classified annex to the FBI’s operating manual, known as the Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide, or DIOG. The full version of that guide, including the classified annex, was last made public in redacted form in 2011.
The section of the annex on NSLs obtained by The Intercept dates from October 2013 and is marked “last updated October 2011.” It is classified as secret with an additional restriction against distribution to any non-U.S. citizens.
Emails from FBI lawyers in 2015, which were released earlier this year to the Freedom of the Press Foundation, reference an update to this portion of the DIOG, but it is not clear from the heavily redacted emails what changes were actually made.
In a January 2015 email to a number of FBI employee lists, James Baker, the general counsel of the FBI, attached the new attorney general’s policy and wrote that “with the increased focus on media issues,” the FBI and Justice Department would “continue to review the DIOG and other internal policy guides to determine if additional changes or requirements are necessary.”
“Please be mindful of these media issues,” he continued, and advised consulting with the general counsel’s office “prior to implementing any techniques targeting the media.” But the email also explicitly notes that the new guidelines do not apply to “national security tools.”
Allen, the FBI spokesperson, told The Intercept in an emailed statement that “the FBI periodically reviews and updates the DIOG as needed” and that “certainly the FBI’s DIOG remains consistent with all [attorney general] guidelines.”
Bruce Brown, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said that the “use of NSLs as a way around the protections in the guidelines is a serious concern for news organizations.”
Last week, the Reporters Committee filed a brief in support of the Freedom of the Press Foundation’s lawsuit for the FBI’s NSL rules and other documents on behalf of 37 news organizations, including The Intercept’s publisher, First Look Media. (First Look also provides funding to both the Reporters Committee and the Freedom of the Press Foundation, and several Intercept staffers serve on the foundation’s board.)
Seeing the rules in their uncensored form, Timm, of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said that the FBI should not have kept them classified.
“Redacting the fact that they need a little extra signoff from supervisors doesn’t come close to protecting state secrets,” he said.
The FBI issues thousands of NSLs each year, including nearly 13,000 in 2015. Over the years, a series of inspector general reports found significant problems with their use, yet the FBI is currently pushing to expand the types of information it can demand with an NSL. The scope of NSLs has long been limited to basic subscriber information and toll billing information — which number called which, when, and for how long — as well as some financial and banking records. But the FBI had made a habit of asking companies to hand over more revealing data on internet usage, which could include email header information (though not the subject lines or content of emails) and browsing history. The 2013 NSL rules for the media only mention telephone toll records.
Another controversial aspect of NSLs is that they come with a gag order preventing companies from disclosing even the fact that they’ve received one. Court challenges and legislative changes have loosened that restriction a bit, allowing companies to disclose how many NSLs they receive, in broad ranges, and in a few cases, to describe the materials the FBI had demanded of them in more detail. Earlier this month, Yahoo became the first company to release three NSLs it had received in recent years.
It’s unclear how often the FBI has used NSLs to get journalists’ records. Barton Gellman, of the Washington Post, has said that he was told his phone records had been obtained via an NSL.
The FBI could also potentially demand journalists’ information through an application to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (or FISA court), which, like NSLs, would also not be covered by the Justice Department policy. The rules for that process are still obscure. The emails about revisions to the FBI guidelines reference a “FISA portion,” but most of the discussion is redacted.
For Brown, of the Reporters Committee, the disclosure of the rules “only confirms that we need information about the actual frequency and context of NSL practice relating to newsgathering and journalists’ records to assess the effectiveness of the new guidelines.”
Top photo: Jerry Delakas, 63, a longtime newspaper vendor in Manhattan’s Cooper Square, stands by his newsstand on April 3, 2012, in New York City.
Editor-in-Chief: Betsy Reed. Series Editor: Ryan Tate. Associate Editor: Andrea Jones. Reporters: Trevor Aaronson, Cora Currier, Jenna McLaughlin, Alice Speri. Research: Alleen Brown, Talya Cooper, Danielle Mackey, Eseosa Olumhense, Miriam Pensack, John Thomason. Art Direction: Stephane Elbaz, Philipp Hubert, Nick Simmons. Additional Photo Editing: Soohee Cho, Shaun Lucas, Chelsea Matiash. Development: Tom Conroy, Andy Gillette, Carl Licata, Cacie Prins, Raby Yuson.
The Politics of the Possible: 150 Federal Prosecutors Denounce Trumps Muslim Ban
Stingrays Provide FBI NSA Informal Federal “Oversight” for members of the Congressional Committees Providing Formal Oversight of the FBI NSA , Hampton Homeowners, Gun Owners, Anti War Activists and Intercept readers.
“A New Frontier in Police Surveillance”
Featuring Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Chairman, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), Ranking Member, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; Adam Bates, Policy Analyst, Cato Institute; moderated by Julian Sanchez, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute.
https://www.cato.org/events/stingrays-new-frontier-police-surveillance
Worst than all kosher gestapo dictatorship regimes combined while cloaked in “we the people in the land of the free” and subverting what is right at large. — Alejandro Grace Ararat.
The very word secrecy and all that it entails is repugnant (subverts) in a free an open society.
Glenn Greenwald how does a person protect against such harrasment which is the same as spyin which is the same as stalking by the USA governance. How to halt their worst than kosher gestapo stalking Glenn and Laura Poitras?
Reading this about National Security Letters not being used for First Amendment activity is false. I know because I was under surveillance by I believe the FBI, judging by the tactics used based upon The Intercept’s fantastic reporting, a few years ago for nothing more than First Amendment activity. I’ve tried to get legal help to get information about the basis for the surveillance but I had no luck I’m guessing because I had no physical evidence since I didn’t think at the time to keep anything. I was hoping I could contact you or another journalist for help. I swear this is not a joke. Thank you.
Famous cases of Organized Stalking, and targeted individuals:
Best Documented civilian gang stalking case:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCnDMpD5rQ4
The Krlichs are husband and wife realtors who live in Hubbard, Ohio, They were subjected to a car horn campaign by the local fire chief, covered by the ABC News 20/20 program
Gang stalking lawsuits:
Jane Clift in Slough, England in 2006 won a settlement verdict
Jeffrey Kantor lawsuit, dismissed for lack of evidence, but indicates known pattern
Journalists who have been targeted with harassment:
Laura Poitras
Glenn Greenwalds mate
Minnesota reporters Jessica Miles, Alix Kendall, and others
Gry Webb, who wrote “Dark Alliance” documenting CIA involvement in drug smuggling
Famous victims of organized stalking and gas lighting:
Ernest Hemingway complained of being harassed by feds, committed suicide- later vindicated
Martha Mitchell of Martha Mitchell effect
Jean Seberg, committed suicide
James Baldwin
Cops and security coontractors who have been gang stalked:
Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Donna Watts
NYPD stop and frisk guy
Chicago whistle blowers/intercept
(Lieutenant Larry Richard, Santa Cruz Police Department) was interviewed on a tv segment by KCBA Fox News 35
(California) entitled “Bullying on Steroids – Gang Stalking
Bloggers and activists who have been gang stalked:
Jeff Pataky wrote Bad Phoenix Cops
The phrase “gang stalking” needs to be replaced because its meaning been perjoratively coopted by WhOmEvEr. Given TPTBs total control over IT willfully MITMing content for specific end users among other JTRIG staples the use of this now sullied and discredited phrase diminishes the general publics receptivity to certain recurring anecdotal elements of such accounts which collectively merit both greater investigation and further disclosure of ALL JTRIG related docs from the Snowden Archives residing here.
Rules? This is the USA. There are no rule.
Im in the uk but fir years iv been reading a lot off books and keeping myself up to scratch but im so glad people who didn’t believe can now look and find this information but the damage to this once great country is shocking im in my late 40’s so I knew it when it was a country everyone dreamed off , corruption from the people who made the rules & laws , enforced them but didnt abide by them , and all for money & power , pure greed , trump should have a amnesty & release those prisoners who are having there lifes ruined by being jailed for possession of a herb, these private prisons are just money makers for the elite &kaw enforcement know that & keep them filled constantly ,
The ministry of propaganda choose their master and expected differential treatment? Lay with dogs, get fleas – how does it feel? Too, funny.
The Mexico drugs.Our government has been corrupted at the highest levels . The Mexico drug cartel Many in Congress involved.Certainly the Bushes and Clintons. Possibly Soros. What a mess.WE the people must get involved.
Trump should use this to prove “News” Network collusion with Soros. They’re complicit in inciting riots, and a host of crimes.
Gee and it happened during obama, imagine that. Could that be why they said nothing about what he did that was unconstitutional??? You can bet they will now look into it because with leftist media people doing to us is way different than doing to them….
King Donald will rule the land and rig the system to stay as long as he desires.
Only a criminal government need spy on the people.
An American citizen, not US subject.
I hope they can find out who is doing the FAKE NEWS, that should be a felony and jail. Only the truth should be in print and television/w foot notes.
America’s media are 100% corrupt. They must be prosecuted.
I’m okay with it to a point.
Plenty of journalism is about division and doing the work of our opponents/enemies and frenemies!
But, isn’t journalism dead?
Bought and paid for b power.
An American citizen, not US subject.
It certainly hasn’t prompted to be more honest, ethical or patriotic.
Truly amazing. The Mass media has been crying “Nothing to see here, move along” when it was the citizens who were complaining about the surveillance state. When James Rosen was under attack by the administration, it was fine because of his political leanings. When people complain that we can’t walk down the street without being videotaped, but no one is allowed to film in a courtroom, police station, or school, we are called tin foil hat nutjobs.
But now it’s the journalists who have to be protected? Your job was to protect US by reporting the truth, and you failed. You wield news as a political weapon, and call opinion fact and facts lies. Now you want us to go to bat for you? Too little, too late.
This causes no problem. There are no “Journalists” left in the country, only opinion writers.
Not fake, but also not news.
The Obama Regime — especially his IRS and DoJ — were spying on James Rosen, Fox News, and all of Obama’s political enemies for eight years before this story hit the wires.
Obama never dreamed that he would be handing such powers to Trump and his cabal. Everyone wonders why Trump and Putin are kindred spirits{…?} Maybe the only difference is in the names; FBI and FSB.
“The law is not the truth. Even the poor and illiterate know injustice when they see it.”
Uhhhhh Obama acts like Putin and you blame Trump? Or is this a case when its OK for Democrats to abuse power but the possibility that a Republican follow Obama’s precedent is literally Hitler?
People were warning the country after 9/11 happened to not give the government unlimited power over us….. but nooooooooo we were crazy conspiracy theorists. Go put your tinfoil on they said…. they would never spy on everyone…. what do you have to hide?….. blah blah blah. Too bad now.
Hopefully Trump can now use these tools against the filthy traitors……go after them like Obama did!!
It is only a problem now that Trump is POTUS. They would never complain about Obama acting like a third world dictator.
Too busy cheering him on to complain.
no ruler has ever spied on its own citizens like king obama. stalin never could have thought that such level of citizen surveillance would ever be possible.
but barrys ememies were all domestic, and he had a press that didnt care! as they arent journalists.
the biggest surveiller of his own citiznes in the history of man.
to destroy his domestic enemies of course.
“JournOlists”, who conspired to LIE for Obama, and their “brethren” who gave Hillary the answers , called THEMSELVES “HACKS” while licking her boots, and who OPENLY discarded even the PRETENSE of “objectivity”, have REMOVED themselves from the protections of the first amendment. Spy on them, do ANYTHING to them, treat them LIKE THE ENEMIES OF THE STATE that they really are.
Not surprised Obozo would allow this. Sure there will be troves of stuff like this coming out. As to the MSM, there are all reporters versus journalists. Journalists became extinct with Obozo.
There are quite a few so called journalists who should be executed for sedition and treason. Star with the worst offenders and see if things turn around.
Why don’t you name your list of names on your “worst offenders” list who you want killed?
In the hands of an administration that has the intent to preserve and secure our nation, the development of this tool is the 2nd thing Obozo did right.
The first thing he did right was prepare the FEMA camps for those that violate our laws as determined through use of this tool – as well as the current protesting miscreants, paid protestors and non-citizens
Hey Obama/Killiary/Slick Willy/etc – Satan is in town and he is claiming his soul – a deal is a deal
Do these secret rules allow Feds to remote control someone’s Mercedes C250 coupe into a tree…
When used by an administration that has the intent to preserve, protect and secure this nation, development of this tool is the 2nd good thing Obama did.
The first good thing he did was prepare the FEMA camps for the current malcontents and dissidents.
His plan is working – only thing is, it is working against his agenda – thanks for the wake-up call Obozo – the tool will be deployed accordingly.
Hate to play ya Obozo, but just returning the favor and…….
BTW, Satan has come to claim his soul – a deal is a deal
Now you fing your Journalistic Integrity.
Time to investigate George Soros.
Yes sir! This is so super secret, it’s on the internet! How stupid are people?
Obama was doing that for a long time until he got caught. Let us not forget his wanting to sanction news stations he did not agree with either.
As much as I dislike the MSM for their liberal bias, I detest our government’s and especially an sworn official who believes their are above our Constitution. That which is NOT public information, is an individual’s private information, regardless of the method of storage or communications.
We have change from a Nation where individual’s privacy was protected from government intrusion, even when the material gathered wasn’t intended as evidence in a court. Now, “our” government believes they are above OUR Constitution, in particular if no one knows about it.
Violating our privacy, including journalist WITHOUT “warrant and probable cause” is an act of TYRANNY!
No excuses for these actions are acceptable. Those that approve, condone and commit such treason may some day, answer to their actions with a most severe punishment!
Uhhh, does this writer remember Mr. Rosen from Fox? Remember that he and his parents were bugged by Obama. Why do libs have such a short memory.
You are so right! Where were the riots and protests about that? Where was the MSM’s hysterical reaction to this violation? There was none, because they don’t really care about what Obama did to any conservative. They only care about themselves, not the Constitution. Basically, if you don’t share the same beliefs as they do, your rights don’t matter.
Um… the writer mentioned Mr. Rosen in the article. Did you read it?
Why do people comment on articles which they clearly haven’t read?
Liberals pose the greatest threat to our democracy. The dems abuse of our spook agencies is consistent with the liberal drive to fascism. I HATE OUR ENTRENCHED POLITICAL FILTH, both dem and rep. repulsive ilk!
Now they just need to find some journalists. Anyway, Free speech for everyone. The Donald is all about Free Speech. Read the book about him (released 1-7-2017):
“KEK: The Rise of Donald Trump” (released 1-7-2017)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MZ7QSIE
Why doesn’t some ambitious reporter investigate a bunch of these protesters to see where they come from and find out if the are or are not paid to protest and cause trouble?
Journalism is dead.
yes, Obama penalized, threatened, attacked, and distorted and emasculated the media, while they bent over to lick the crack. Buh-bye media.
Journalists? I’m fairly certain they’re extinct in the wild as the last time one was spotted was in the late 70s/early 80s. Some remain in captivity at large news organizations and a breeding program is in place but there are no plans to release them back into the wild as they currently lack the hunting skills of their predecessors and need to be spoon fed in order to survive.
“The classified rules, obtained by The Intercept and dating from 2013″
Hmm……. 2013……. wouldn’t that be the Obama administration?
Did you vote for Obama? Twice? Then congratulations, because you *did* build that!
Journalists like Scahill and Greenwald voting for Obama, or Clinton for that matter? Unlikely, especially starting in 2012.
I used to have a lot of respect for the media but no longer. They are biased now and can’t do their jobs without letting their personal politics get in the way.
it’s funny, when I look at a journalist I see Daffy Duck. When a journalist looks in the mirror they see Edward R Murrow (what a joke!).
And suddenly just now are journalists worried about this?
There’s a whole body of classified law that can be invoked to go around, override, or subvert every constitutional protection Americans have. A waiver from posse comitatus takes a phone call and 10 minutes. We have US Northern Command to handle these things.
Whatever right you think you have, you don’t have, you’re just not cleared to know you don’t have it, and neither are the courts for the most part.
So what! America’s journalists turned into Fifth Columnists long ago. We have communist propagandists now, not journalists.
Big deal! There are no journalists left in America. Just communist propagandists pretending to be journalists.
There are no more real journalists. They are simply the propaganda arm of the left, and are currently promoting civil war. They have made their bed.
Just wondering, who was president “…dating from 2013,…”when this started?.
Thus the push to label anything they don’t agree with as “fake news” disseminated by Russian intel agencies. Then it’s game on for the Feds, with no oversight.
This was mentioned a few years ago and at the time the news profession did really show much concern. (wikipedia 2013 Dept of Justice investigation of reporters). Why worry about it now?
or is part of a news organization “associated with a foreign intelligence service” or “otherwise acting on behalf of a foreign power.”
Does Soros NGO’s qualify as a ‘Foreign Power’? If so, looks like all can be monitored.
So now we see what “the rest of the story” about the push to identify so-called “fake news” is all about. Call it “Russian propaganda”, and it’s game on for the Feds.
There was a brief blurb in the news over a year ago but wasn’t really considered news worthy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Department_of_Justice_investigations_of_reporters
Why is it an issue now?
Guess they don’t have much to do these days. there aren’t really any journalists around anymore. most are just leftist meat puppets.
Great work! This is the first piece of investigative journalism I have read in nearly 9 years. What took so long?
The FBI is spying on journalists? CNN is safe.
FBI looking for journalists? CNN is safe.
Another unfortunate legacy of the Obama years.
Since many journalists are now calling for terrible things to happen to President Trump maybe we should start calling for terrible tings to happen to journalists. Turnabout is fair play.
Any agency that spies on a citizen ought to be required to reveal–within 2 years– to that citizen the following: the cause for the inquiry, each and every technique used, each and every piece of information obtained, how that information was used, and what conclusions were drawn.
Even if mass information is collected from phone calls, the agency should have to write individual letters to each subject with all the information gathered.
technically the subject line is part of the email header. how do we know that the (smtp) header is stripped of the subject line? i’ve seen this claim repeated but i’ve never seen the source or any references. sounds like gossip to me, but if there is a valid footnote to add, by all means, inform us!
This was ok so long as it was the politicized FBI under Obama, and only Fox news was targeted. Now that Trump holds the reigns of power, watch for the avalanche of outrage by the msm.
Irrelevant because it doesn’t change the over reach regardless of who was or is president and only just finding about it now because of gag orders and secrecy. Due to FBI being resistant
Selective outrage, at that.
“Last week, the Reporters Committee filed a brief in support of the Freedom of the Press Foundation’s lawsuit…”
Last week. Where where they in 2015?
Lets hope America becomes the America that it should be, how about taking care of the hard working people that are here and work hard in this country. And stop the Government from spying on everybody. Use the search engine that does not change its results for political reasons and respects your privacy, just good old fashion results that are not tracked. Lookseek.com Have a great
Journalist have imagined themselves into a special category of citizens where they are first among equals. I’ve never understood why journalists think they are special or why the same rights they demand to themselves can’t be granted to bloggers, etc who aren’t “real journalists.” Whatever that means. Trust in media and journalist in at an all time low and I hope it goes lower. The majority of the industry serves as cooptees pushing a one sided narrative.
I still don’t understand why journalist think they are special. Journalists have imagined themselves into a special class which they believe entitles them to behave as if they were governmental actors. No doubt many in the press were willing cooptees of the previous administration. But at then end of the day journalists are private citizens and are subject to the same laws as everyone else.
Freedom of the Press does not mean freedom from responsibility. With all the FAKE news and the cooperation of journalists with one political party it only makes sense to develop methods to get the truth out. Maybe this wouldn’t happen if journalism was fair and accurate. Unfortunately, it is neither. Hey? if the Russians can do it why can’t our own FBI?
Hypocrite. Talking about responsibility when you still support unrestrained police state
These are the rules used by the most Open and Transparent Administration ever under barack hussein obama.