The WP reports on the Senate Judiciary committee grilling FBI director Mueller over the abuses of the national security letters. But the account is also one of several that demonstrate why Mueller is so good at defusing Congressional anger by accepting responsibility right off the bat, and thereby likely blunting any remedies Congress might demand. Which may be more dangerous in the end for continuing to authorize a power that seems to lend itself so easily to abuse, and which will be implemented by agents working at some point for a new FBI director, one Congress and the public may trust less, and which seems to be being rampantly misused even under a director whose integrity and competence are hard to doubt.

Posted by Laura at March 28, 2007 09:02 AM