(2010-09-20) Ig Claims Fbi Lies Bush Activist Surveillance

The Justice Department's Inspector General says that the FBI lied during the George W Bush administration about its basis for surveillance of domestic activist groups, including Green Peace, PETA, and the Merton Center. The report concludes the groups - which ranged from anti-war to animal rights and environmental organizations - were not specifically targeted by the FBI, but that agents used inaccurate or flimsy reasons to open investigations; and, even after no basis to investigate a group was found, the FBI kept its probe open for years afterwards.