Writes a friend:

The FBI’s datamining program has been exposed. Interesting that they admitted to using this to help prosecute a commercial fraud case. I take that as an admission that this database will routinely be used for every investigation, warrants be damned.

UPDATE from Skip Oliva:

I would note that when the Patriot Act was extended a few years ago, House and Senate negotiators snuck in a provision adding the antitrust laws to the list of offenses that could justify an FBI wiretap. The Antitrust Division claimed they needed wiretap powers despite a 98% conviction rate in criminal “price fixing” cases. And of course, since “price fixing” itself lacks definition, antitrust wiretap powers could be invoked to justify any spying on private business ordered by the attorney general.

The Best of Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.