A glimpse into anti-terror probes

WASHINGTON — In the most detailed public accounting of how it has used its expanded powers to fight terrorism, the Justice Department released information on Tuesday showing that federal agents have conducted hundreds of bugging and surveillance operations and visited numerous libraries and mosques using new law enforcement tools.

In one of the more dramatic examples of its new powers, Justice Department officials said they are now reviewing some 4,500 intelligence files in terrorist cases to determine whether criminal charges should be brought. Such a mingling of intelligence and criminal investigations was largely banned under internal Justice Department procedures that were in place prior to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

A 60-page report to members of Congress was aimed at answering concerns from lawmakers who say the Justice Department has kept them in the dark about its counter-terrorism operations and has not done enough to safeguard civil liberties in its pursuit of terrorists.

The report provided dozens of pieces of previously undisclosed data on everything from the use of hundreds of secret search warrants to the fact that some 50 people had been detained without charges as material witnesses. The department portrayed its use of its new powers as judicious and restrained, but officials are still refusing to divulge certain data publicly because they said it would compromise classified areas. Civil liberties advocates said the vagueness and ambiguities in these areas buttressed their concerns about how the department's powers were being used.

The numbers the Justice Department provided on several of the most hotly debated issues appeared relatively low. For instance, the Justice Department said that "fewer than 10" FBI field offices had visited mosques as part of their investigations — a new power granted to agents last year by Attorney General John Ashcroft.

And agents have contacted about 50 libraries nationwide in the course of terrorism investigations, often at the invitation of librarians who saw something suspicious, according to Viet Dinh, an assistant attorney general who briefed members of the House Judiciary Committee on the findings at a hearing on Tuesday.

The report analyzed the new tools made available to the federal government under the anti-terrorism legislation known as the Patriot Act, and it found that the Justice Department has made widespread use of surveillance and eavesdropping tools to track terrorists.

"As we move forward in the process of providing the strong measures that are necessary to combat terrorism, we must also keep in mind the importance of protecting civil liberties Americans hold dear," said Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, who chaired the meeting.