INSPECTOR SAYS FBI MAY HAVE BROKEN LAW ON SEARCHS 6,400 TIMES

JASON RYAN, ABC NEWS The FBI may have committed as many as 6,400 intelligence violations in the course of its use of national security letters, Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine told lawmakers National security letters allow FBI investigators to obtain personal records such as Internet, phone and financial information without going first to a judge for a warrant.

Fine explained the method his office used to estimate the number of violations. "The FBI's 10 percent review of field office NSLs found at least 640 potential intelligence violations from 2003 through 2006," Fine told members of a House Judiciary subcommittee.

"Extrapolating the results of the FBI's 10 percent statistical sample to the full number of NSLs means that the total number of possible intelligence violations among all NSLs issued over the four-year period could be as high as 6,400," Fine continued. Related Justice Dept. Audits Flag FBI Privacy Abuses More FBI Privacy Violations Confirmed ACLU: Military Skirting Law to Spy

Under federal law, all intelligence agencies are required to self-report possible violations of the law to the president's Intelligence Oversight Board. At the hearing, FBI general counsel Valerie Caproni said that many of the violations "involved third-party errors or inattention to detail." According to FBI officials that type of infraction includes clerical errors. Asked about the 6,400 figure after the hearing, Caproni disputed it and said, "Ninety percent of those are third-party errors."