Napolitano: DEA Cases Could Be Overturned Because of NSA Info

When federal agents lied about the source of National Security Agency information  in drug investigations it was a breach of federal law, and it could overturn all the convictions gained through such information, says former Judge Andrew Napolitano.

"It's a very major problem, especially in light of the fact that the IRS manual reflects that DEA agents were told, and hence IRS agents, not to reveal to federal prosecutors the true source of the information," Napolitano said Thursday on Fox News Channel's "Special Report."

Reuters reported that the information obtained through the NSA's surveillance methods has been fed to the Drug Enforcement Agency for drug prosecutions. The program is separate from the one revealed by NSA leaker Edward Snowden earlier this year, and the DEA has said the practice is not illegal. It was used, they say, to protect sources and methods.

When host Bret Baier pointed out that law enforcement agents say the practice has been going on a long time, since the early 1990s, Napolitano responded, "They've been breaking the law for a long time."

"When a federal agent lies during an investigation, even to another federal agent, that's a felony," Napolitano said "They got a lot of convictions in these cases. They took a lot people off the streets. Guess what? Many of those convictions are now ripe for reversal because defense counsel and judges were lied to."