海角大神

罢丑别听United States聽uses drones聽for surveillance in some limited law enforcement situations, FBI 顿颈谤别肠迟辞谤听Robert Mueller聽said on Wednesday, sparking additional debate about President聽Barack Obama's use of domestic surveillance.

The acknowledgement came in response to questions from U.S. senators who said they wanted to know more about the federal government's increasing use of unmanned aircraft.

"Does the FBI use drones聽for surveillance on U.S. soil?" Republican Senator聽Charles Grassley聽of聽Iowa聽asked during a Senate聽Judiciary Committee聽hearing.

"Yes," Mueller said, adding that the use was in "a very, very minimal way and very seldom."

Mueller did not go into detail, but the FBI later released a statement that said unmanned aircraft were used only to watch stationary subjects and to avoid serious risks to law enforcement agents. 罢丑别听Federal Aviation Administration聽approves each use, the statement said.

The FBI used a drone during a hostage-taking in聽Alabama聽this year after a gunman,聽Jimmy Lee Dykes, snatched a boy off a school bus and held him in an underground bunker, according to the statement.

罢丑别听U.S. government聽has made no secret of its use of drones聽to monitor the聽United States聽border with聽Mexico.

罢丑别听Obama administration聽has been defending its surveillance tactics since former聽National Security Agency聽contractor Edward Snowden released secret documents revealing a massive database of daily telephone records, as well as coordination between the NSA and social media companies.

The programs are designed to target militants outside the聽United States聽who are suspected of planning attacks, but they inevitably gather some data on Americans, U.S. officials said.

In a May speech, Obama defended the use of armed drones聽abroad but said the聽United States聽should never deploy armed drones聽over U.S. soil.

The Justice Department had disclosed that two domestic law enforcement agencies use unmanned aircraft systems, according to a department statement sent to the聽Judiciary Committee聽and released on Wednesday by Grassley's office. The two are the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Grassley sent a letter to Attorney General聽Eric Holder聽on Wednesday asking why the Justice Department did not earlier mention the FBI's use of drones.

At Wednesday's hearing, Democratic Senator聽Dianne Feinstein聽of聽California聽said she was concerned about the privacy implications of drone surveillance.

"The greatest threat to the privacy of Americans is the drone and the use of the drone, and the very few regulations that are on it today," Feinstein said.

Mueller reiterated that drone use is rare. "It is very narrowly focused on particularized cases and particularized needs," he said.

Mueller is due to retire when his term expires in September.

Reporting by David Ingram; Editing by Howard Goller and Stacey Joyce