Gaming officials cite methods of gaining hotel lists

Jace Radke

Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2004 | 11:08 a.m.

Federal grand jury subpoenas, administrative subpoenas and national security letters were among the methods used by the FBI to obtain guest lists at Las Vegas hotels as part of security precautions for New Year's Eve, gaming officials said.

The FBI confirmed Monday that agents used subpoenas in some instances to obtain information, although the agency would not specify what types of subpoenas or how many were used.

Subpoenas were issued at Harrah's properties and were complied with, according to a spokesman for the company.

Officials with MGM MIRAGE and Park Place Entertainment Corp., which today changed its name to Caesars Entertainment Inc., would only say that they have been working with the FBI on security measures.

"We're cooperating with law enforcement to ensure the safety and the security of our guests," said Robert Stewart, a spokesman for Caesars Entertainment, which owns Caesars Palace, Paris Las Vegas and other resorts.

Since the nation went to the high-level terrorism alert on Dec. 21 through New Year's, the FBI has searched for terrorists by going over lists of names of those who have used truck and car rental agencies, airlines, hotels and storage units in the Las Vegas Valley as well as Laughlin and St. George, Utah.

Most of the businesses handed over the records, but some would not without a subpoena or a national security letter.

Special Agent Todd Palmer, a spokesman for the Las Vegas office of the FBI, said that the hotels and other businesses were very cooperative in handing over the information, and that some of the hotels had policies requiring subpoenas to release guest lists.

Metro Police reportedly assisted in gathering the information, but Metro spokeswoman Carla Alston said the department had no comment on the how the guest lists were obtained.

Las Vegas authorities requested lists of names from the hotels and other businesses. The names were then matched to various terrorist watch lists, Palmer said.

FBI officials would not comment on whether any of the names collected matched a watch list. They reiterated that there are still no specific threats against Las Vegas.

Bill Bible, president of the Nevada Resort Association, said he didn't think the collection of the information from the Las Vegas hotels would deter many people from visiting the city.

"I think most people realize that the FBI matching guest lists to terrorist lists was done out of concern for safety and security, and that it wasn't something that was unique to Las Vegas," Bible said. "You saw the same kinds of things in New York and other places with major celebrations."

"Everyone recognizes that the world is different since Sept. 11," Bible said. "Whether its flying on commercial airlines or attending an event there is increased security."

The FBI's authority to demand records from casinos and other businesses in terrorism cases was greatly enhanced when the president signed the 2004 authorization bill for intelligence agencies on Dec. 13.

While banks, credit unions and other financial institutions were previously subject to such demands, the measure expands the list to include car dealers, pawnbrokers, travel agents, casinos and other businesses. The law allows for the FBI to use administrative subpoenas instead of requesting a subpoena from a judge or a grand jury.

Critics of the law, including Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, say that the FBI's growing power taken with the USA Patriot Act is leading to violation of civil liberties and privacy rights.

Peck said that just because the FBI is no longer requesting guest lists doesn't mean agents can't use the Patriot Act or other laws to continue to investigate the names they've already been given.

FBI officials in Las Vegas have confirmed that the Patriot Act was used to seek the financial records of current and former politicians in what sources said was a part of an ongoing political corruption investigation and not a counterterrorism case.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., had called for more time to look at the intelligence authorization bill before its passage. He said he still has concerns about the Patriot Act.

"There are concerns that misuse of the Patriot Act could lead to widespread invasion of privacy, and I am supportive of the effort to sunset certain provisions of the law in 2005 so we can correct any overreaching or infringing on civil liberties by law enforcement and the Justice Department," Reid said.