Capitol Hill Blue reports that the White House has made use of the Patriot Act to gather personal information about political enemies such as Ambassador Wilson, Valerie Plame, Michael Moore, Senator Barbara Boxer, Joe Conason and "left-wing bloggers like Markos Moulitsas Zúniga (the Daily Kos) and Ana Marie Cox (Wonkette)."
According to the report, the list was started by Rove back when Bush was the Governor of Texas, and has since grown to a list of more than 10,000 political enemies.
Unfortunately, this is all too believable.
“If you want to know who’s sleeping with whom, who drinks too much or has a fondness for nose candy, this is the place to find it,” says another White House aide. “Karl (Rove) operates under the rule that if you fuck with us, we’ll fuck you over.”
The list grew during Bush’s first run for President in 2000 but the names multiplied rapidly after the terrorist attacks of 2001 and passage of the USA Patriot Act. Using the powers under the act, Rove expanded the list to more than 10,000 names, utilizing the FBI’s “national security letters” to gather private and intimate details on American citizens.
National security letters, which can be issued by an FBI supervisor without a judge’s review or approval, allows the bureau to examine the telephone calls, correspondence and financial lives of any Americans.
The FBI issues some 30,000 national security letters a year to employers, credit bureaus, banks, travel agencies and other sources of information on American citizens. The Patriot Act also forbids anyone receiving such a letter to reveal they have passed on information to the federal government.
“We’re talking about Big Brother at its most extreme,” says one White House staffer. “We know things about people that their spouses don’t know and, if it becomes politically expedient, we will make sure the rest of the world knows.”
Hat tip to Wonkette
Also from Capitol Hill Blue: Bush's Temper
Bush Republican corruption Karl Rove Patriot Act Rove Valerie Plame Big Brother
