Originally Posted by
Section 107
Yes, and the pax might not have been the target of the investigation.....
Still, the passenger may be a subjected party to the investigation. And even if the primary target of the investigation may be another person or group of persons, the person searched like this may well end up under substantial governmental pressure -- including to participate in entrapment/sting operations -- despite otherwise not having committed any serious crime.
Originally Posted by
FliesWay2Much
It would have made infinitely more sense for the Bureau to contact the NASA CI people (many of whom I know very well) and coordinate the proper thing to do. Most agencies (including mine) require you to bring your IT device to the Help Desk for scanning after an overseas trip. The CI folks could have simply done their thing back at JPL in a routine manner, nobody would have noticed and whoever needed the data would have gotten the date with their investigation still intact.
Instead, DHS decided to go "cowboy" and take matters into their own hands. This could have been a completely low-key and unnoticed investigation. Instead, it's now all over the internet.
Great job, CBP. You've lived down to your reputation and perhaps have blown a case (if there is one now or ever was a case) to smithereens.
The DOJ/FBI do this kind of stuff and even mess up from time to time by getting CBP to do what CBP would otherwise not have done. If this is an FBI CI driven search, I would not point the finger of responsibility for this at the CBP, for the CBP is just being a tool for the DOJ/FBI.
I consider it a good thing for Americans to know what all the CBP does for other parts of the US government, including its role as a tool to be exploited for IRS or DOJ/FBI purposes using the border search as a way to do things that can't be legally done to those not crossing the US international borders.