ID:

490

Date:

2007-01-05

Headline:

The government is reading your mail

Reporter's name:

Mark Benjamin

Delay/denial:

No

Lawsuit:

No

Fees:

No

Media outlet:

Salon.com

City:

Washington, DC

Summary:

Once the subject of scandal as part of the Church Committee's investigation into unauthorized activities by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), a revised "mail cover" program has quietly maintained and extended the authority of the federal government to monitor and record postal mail sent by American citizens (including the authority to open mail, also part of the earlier scandal).

Notes:

Salon.com used FOIA to obtain a 2006 revision of the Postal Service's Administrative Support Manual, which describes parts of the record-keeping process; this issue also arose in part due to a signing statement by then-President George W. Bush in December 2006.

Keywords:

USPS, postal service, US Postal Inspection Service, mail, mail cover, CIA, FBI, New York, HT Lingual, Church Committee, FISA, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

URL:

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/01/05/mail_cover/index.html

Agencies:

CIA
FBI
USPS

States:

DC
NY

Categories:

civil rights
intelligence
national security