While most of Washington is riveted to the appearance this week of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the controversy over the U.S. attorney firings, there was another showdown recently between that committee and the Bush Administration that highlighted the new expanded role of Congress in the oversight of the broad powers that have been granted under the Patriot Act.

In the wood-paneled hearing room of the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 27, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III faced sharp questioning about the recent revelations by the FBI’s own inspector general that the Bureau had mishandled its use of National Security Letters, a powerful investigative tool that allows it to demand information from third parties, such as phone companies and Internet providers, supposedly pertaining to people who may be terrorists. The authority for NSLs had been strengthened under the Patriot Act.

But according to the IG’s report, many thousands of NSL requests have been made, yet the letters have not been effectively tracked by the Bureau and have not been useful in making terrorism arrests. The IG said that more than 140,000 NSL letters were issued in the three years that were reviewed, resulting in only one terrorism-related conviction.

I was asked by the Maine Civil Liberties Union to monitor the hearing, which showed the need for strong Congressional oversight into the vastly expanded authority that has been given to the FBI.

Senators from both parties were unhappy with the mismanagement of the NSLs, which allow the investigators to seek records, without any court subpoena, and only with the statement of an FBI field supervisor that they are relevant to a terrorism investigation – a very low standard.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein reminded Mueller that the National Security Letters provision in the Patriot Act was very controversial when it was renewed last year.

“This was carefully negotiated, and now the checks and balances seem to have melted into oblivion,” said Feinstein.

According to the inspector general’s report, issued on March 9, the FBI has issued many thousands of NSLs, catching many innocent people in a vast dragnet who are “two or three steps removed” from any terrorism investigation.

And the letters have been used to demand sensitive information, such as library information or Internet records, that may have only indirect or no relevance to a terrorism prosecution.

“This is Kafka to the extreme,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Committee chairman, who questioned Mueller on the case of four librarians in Windsor, Conn., who were forced to turn over all their library records for a specific period of time. The librarians were forbidden to talk about what had happened to them.

“The people who know what is happening can’t talk about it,” said Leahy, who promised that Congress would re-examine the broad authority given under the Patriot Act.

The evident sloppiness of the FBI was also cited by Leahy, quoting a Washington Post report that described additional FBI mistakes made in affidavits seeking warrants from the secret security court that grants subpoenas under the provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Sen. Arlen Specter, the ranking Republican on the committee and a former prosecutor, rejected Mueller’s attempt to explain why there were so many mistakes in the affidavits.

“I am not impressed with your answer that there are thousands of facts,” an angry Specter shot back. “Your agents are supposed to be right on the facts. That is the basic job of an investigator.”

In three hours of Senate questioning, Mueller frequently avoided answering questions, and deferred other answers to a private forum that will effectively shield them from the public scrutiny that the hearing provided.

The hearing was ample evidence of the misuse of the FBI’s authority, and Mainers should urge Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins to help lead a bipartisan effort to review the Patriot Act and ensure that any powers granted are necessary and effective in fighting terrorism. And they must be brought back in line with the Constitution. The Maine Civil Liberties Union will be monitoring those issues as they go forward, and can provide more information.

“After the bright lights are turned off, I hope we can have bipartisanship to work on these problems,” urged Sen. Leahy as the hearing came to a close.

Marian McCue is a resident of Portland.