This just makes me laugh. I’ve cried plenty over the death of the Consitution, forgive me as I take a moment for some black humor and schadenfreude:

Lax FBI money controls lead to shutdown of surveillance, Justice Department audit finds

By LARA JAKES JORDAN , Associated Press
Last update: January 10, 2008
WASHINGTON -
Telephone companies have cut off FBI wiretaps used to eavesdrop on suspected criminals because of the bureau’s repeated failures to pay phone bills on time.

shitting on the Constitution? A-OK! but it’ll cost ya

A Justice Department audit released Thursday blamed the lost connections on the FBI’s lax oversight of money used in undercover investigations. Poor supervision of the program also allowed one agent to steal $25,000, the audit said.

In at least one case, a wiretap used in a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act investigation “was halted due to untimely payment,” the audit found. FISA wiretaps are used in the government’s most sensitive and secretive criminal investigations, and allow eavesdropping on suspected terrorists or spies.

“We also found that late payments have resulted in telecommunications carriers actually disconnecting phone lines established to deliver surveillance results to the FBI, resulting in lost evidence,” according to the audit by Inspector General Glenn A. Fine.  Read more