Lawmakers ask FBI director to end abuses over records

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., and two senior lawmakers on his panel asked FBI Director Robert Mueller Thursday to take action to ensure that bureau employees do not abuse their powers when requesting telephone records.

The lawmakers pointed to a January report by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine documenting the improper use of emergency, or exigent, letters to obtain phone records of Americans between 2003 and 2006.

Conyers was joined by Judiciary Constitution Subcommittee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and ranking member Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., in sending a written request to Mueller.

Noting that the FBI issued a memo to agents in 2007 that exigent letters are not proper, the lawmakers said Mueller should take action to make that guidance binding.

They added the FBI must take "prompt action" to punish those who engaged in misconduct. They noted that Mueller pledged to the committee in 2007 that the FBI would hold employees accountable once the report was finished.

"Now, four months after the [IG] report's completion, what specific disciplinary or other personnel actions are under way at the FBI on exigent letters, and when will they be complete?" the lawmakers asked.