> ... About three-quarters of the
> 1,329 wiretaps authorized were related to drug cases,
And, FWIW, the score was 1329 approved and 2 rejected,
though the FBI will and does rightly say that if you
want to keep real score you should include the successful
Motions to Suppress (evidence) when evaluating the cost
and return of the wiretap program (from the law enforcement
balance sheet perspective).
They also will and do say that communications intercept
is much less their worry than encrypted data storage
where a search warrant, i.e., after a probable cause
has been developed, is obtained so as to confirm the
grounds for that finding of probable cause only to then
discover that the smoking-gun evidence is encrypted
in bulk and therefore beyond reach. (Scenario: "You
are right, I encrypted that data and I would give you
the key, really I would, but the trauma of my arrest
has caused me to forget the password and I never wrote
it down anywhere, honest!")
--dan, who debated Bill Reinsch, Barry Smith & Stewart Baker
only yesterday (though hardly single-handedly)...
