By Chelsea Rudman

Are you sitting down? Breaking news: the F.B.I. used the Patriot Act to illegally obtain information! Shocking, I know. A report issued by the Justice Department last week found a “serious misuse” of the surveillance powers granted to the agency by the notorious act. The weapon of choice was the national security letter, an open-ended warrant the F.B.I. used to obtain confidential records from banks, credit card companies and Internet Service Providers. Though the 2001 Patriot Act greatly expanded the F.B.I.’s ability to use the letters, apparently they still managed to find a way to use them illegally. Then—brace yourself for another shocker—the F.B.I. lied about how often they were doing this, telling Congress they had issued only 9,254 of the letters in 2003 and 2004. The real number is closer to 39,000—and that’s during 2003 alone. Good work, team.