Secret court approves 934 wiretaps, searches

WASHINGTON -- The government requested and won approval of fewer warrants last year for secret wiretaps and searches of suspected terrorists and spies, attributing a slight decline to streamlined procedures that became law after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

The government received court approval for 934 of the secret warrants, down from 1,003 in 2000.

Attorney General John Ashcroft said Tuesday the new Patriot Act, which amended the 1978 surveillance statute, made it easier for authorities to request fewer warrants because they don't expire as quickly and can be used in some cases across jurisdictions. "The Patriot Act provides some measures of efficiency that can be of assistance to us, and I think it would be fair to interpret the data in light of that," he said.

Experts puzzled over the slight decline in a measure of the war on terrorism inside the United States. They said it probably reflected warrants that covered many surveillance requests under a single investigation -- plus increased use by the FBI of tools other than these warrants, such as subpoenas for a suspect's financial records.

"There's no question the number of investigations went up in 2001 -- it's unthinkable it would be otherwise," said Steven Aftergood of the Washington-based Federation of American Scientists. The FBI uses these warrants to record the telephone calls and e-mails of citizens and immigrants thought to be agents of a foreign power. Authorities also can plant eavesdropping devices in a suspect's home or office or search a suspect's property.

The government said it asked for 932 warrants for electronic surveillance and physical searches that the court approved in 2001.