?aniud ?aws 0%matz

WASHINGTON, DC 20510

May 17, 2018

The Honorable Jefferson B. Sessions 
Attorney General

US. Department of Justice

950 Avenue Northwest
Washington, DC. 20530

Dear Attorney General Sessions:

We are writing to ask that you clear for public release portions of your January 22, 2018
response to our request for information on cell-site simulators.

On August 1, 2017, we wrote to the Department of Justice (DOJ) seeking information on
cell-site simulator interference with commercial mobile devices and 9-1-1 service as well
as any steps the DOJ had taken to test for and mitigate that potential interference.

While we appreciate your response to our letter, a single paragraph of your response was
marked ?Law Enforcement Sensitive and This paragraph contains
all the information provided by the DOJ in response to our questions about DOJ testing
and minimization procedures for cell-site simulators. In this instance, the designations
limit the public?s access to critical information about how innocent Americans may be
adversely impacted by domestic surveillance practices. Americans have a right to
understand how technology used by the government may disrupt the communications of
innocent bystanders not subject to investigation.

The Department has repeatedly acknowledged in federal court ?lings that cell-site
simulators do, in fact, have the potential to interfere with mobile devices in the vicinity of
a targeted device. However, DOJ has also claimed that any interference with those
devices is minimal. The public has a right to know how DOJ arrived at those conclusions
and to examine their veracity. Likewise, if the DOJ cannot substantiate its claims in
federal court, the Department has an obligation to say so. Our concerns about these
claims are redoubled after receiving public con?rmation from the Department of
Homeland Security that it has not conducted or ?nanced any testing of its own cell-site
simulators to determine if they interfere with emergency calls to 9-1-1.

Therefore, we urge you to remove the LES and NOFORN markings from your letter and
clear the entirety of the Department?s January 22, 2018 letter for public release.

 

 

Sincerely,



Ron Wyden Mike Lee
United States Senator United States Senator

T/Zxazag,

Patrick Leahy 
United States Senator