The New York Times recently revealed that the Pentagon and CIA were secretly examining the financial assets and transactions of thousands of American citizens without court approval by issuing national security letters. We speak to the Center for National Security Studies’ Lisa Graves and one of the program’s most prominent targets: James Yee, the former Muslim Guantanamo Bay chaplain wrongly accused of espionage. [includes rush transcript]

Besides wiretapping your phone and going through your mail, the Pentagon and CIA can also demand access to your bank transactions and credit reports at any time, all in the name of “national security.” The New York Times reported on Sunday that both agencies were using powers granted to them by the PATRIOT Act to secretly examine the financial assets and transactions of perhaps thousands of American citizens without court approval. The Pentagon and CIA obtain the private banking records by issuing “national security letters” to request banks, credit card companies and other financial institutions to voluntarily hand over information. The program has been taking place even though the military and the CIA are barred from conducting traditional domestic law enforcement work. Vice President Dick Cheney has defended the program. He was asked about it on Fox News Sunday by host Chris Wallace.

• Vice President Dick Cheney.

The American Civil Liberties Union said it had “serious concerns” about the program and the chair of the of the House Intelligence Committee, Silvestre Reyes, said his panel would investigate how the Pentagon was using its authority.

One of the most prominent targets of the program was James Yee – the former Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo Bay. The military obtained Yee’s private financial records after he was falsely accused of espionage. Yee spent 76 days in solitary confinement and was subject to abusive treatment. In 2004, the government dropped all charges against him.

• James Yee. A Muslim Chaplain, was posted in Guantanamo Bay, in 2002, but less than a year after serving there, he was accused of espionage by the military and faced charges so severe, that he was threatened with the death penalty. Yee was locked away in a Navy prison in Charleston, South Carolina, spent 76 days in solitary confinement and was subject to abusive treatment. In 2004, the government dropped all charges against him and in October 2005, James Yee wrote a book about his experience called, “For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire.”
• Lisa Graves. Deputy Director of the Center for National Security Studies.