50 U.S.C. § 3162 — Requests by authorized investigative agencies

(a) Generally (1) An “authorized investigative agency” may request from any “financial agency,” “financial institution,” or “holding company,” or from any “consumer reporting agency,” financial records, other financial information, and consumer reports that may be necessary to conduct an authorized law-enforcement investigation, counterintelligence inquiry, or security determination. An “authorized investigative agency” may also request records held by any “commercial entity” in the United States about travel outside the United States by an employee in the executive branch of the Government. This section does not define “authorized investigative agency,” “financial agency,” “financial institution,” “holding company,” “consumer reporting agency,” or “commercial entity.” (2) A request may be made under this section when— (A) the requested records concern a person who is or was an employee in the executive branch of the Government; the President required that person, by Executive order or regulation and as a condition of access to classified information, to consent to access to financial records, other financial information, consumer reports, and travel records during a background investigation, for as long as the person keeps access to the information, and for no more than three years after that; and (B) one of these conditions applies: (i) Based on credible information, there are reasonable grounds to believe that the person is, or may be, disclosing classified information without authorization to a “foreign power” or an “agent of a foreign power.” (ii) Information that the employing agency considers credible indicates that the person has taken on excessive debt or has gained a level of wealth that other information known to the agency cannot explain. (iii) The circumstances indicate that the person had the ability and chance to disclose classified information that is known to have been lost or compromised to a “foreign power” or an “agent of a foreign power.” This section does not define “foreign power” or “agent of a foreign power.” (3) Each request— (A) must include a written certification signed by the concerned department or agency head, deputy head, or a senior official whom that head designates for this purpose. The senior official’s rank may not be lower than Assistant Secretary or Assistant Director. The certification must state that— (i) the person concerned is or was an employee covered by paragraph (2)(A); (ii) the request is being made as part of an authorized inquiry or investigation and is authorized under this section; and (iii) the records or information to be reviewed are records or information that the employee previously agreed to make available to the “authorized investigative agency” for review; (B) must include a copy of the agreement mentioned in subparagraph (A)(iii); (C) must specifically identify the records or information to be reviewed, either individually or by category; and (D) must tell the recipient about the prohibition in subsection (b). (b) Prohibition of certain disclosure (1) Prohibition (A) In general If a certification is issued under subparagraph (B) and notice of the right to judicial review under subsection (c) is provided, no governmental or private entity that receives a request under subsection (a), and no officer, employee, or agent of that entity, may disclose to any person that an “authorized investigative agency” described in subsection (a) has sought or obtained access to information under subsection (a). (B) Certification The rule in subparagraph (A) applies if the head of an “authorized investigative agency” described in subsection (a), or a person designated by that head, certifies that not prohibiting disclosure under this subsection may result in— (i) a danger to the national security of the United States; (ii) interference with a criminal, counterterrorism, or counterintelligence investigation; (iii) interference with diplomatic relations; or (iv) danger to any person’s life or physical safety. (2) Exception (A) In general A governmental or private entity that receives a request under subsection (a), or an officer, employee, or agent of that entity, may disclose information that would otherwise be covered by an applicable nondisclosure requirement to— (i) people to whom disclosure is necessary to comply with the request; (ii) an attorney to obtain legal advice or assistance about the request; or (iii) other people whom the head of the “authorized investigative agency” described in subsection (a), or a person designated by that head, permits the entity or person to tell. (B) Application A person who receives a disclosure under subparagraph (A) is subject to the nondisclosure requirements that apply to a person to whom a request is issued under subsection (a), in the same way as the person to whom the request is issued. (C) Notice A recipient that discloses information covered by a nondisclosure requirement to a person described in subparagraph (A) must tell that person about the applicable nondisclosure requirement. (D) Identification of disclosure recipients If the head of the “authorized investigative agency” described in subsection (a), or a person designated by that head, asks, a person who makes or plans to make a disclosure under clause (i) or (iii) of subparagraph (A) must identify to that head or designee the person who will receive the disclosure or who received it before the request. (c) Judicial review (1) In general A request under subsection (a), or a nondisclosure requirement imposed in connection with that request under subsection (b), is subject to judicial review under section 3511 of title 18. (2) Notice A request under subsection (a) must include notice that the judicial review described in paragraph (1) is available. (d) Records or information; inspection or copying (1) Regardless of any other law, except section 6103 of title 26, an entity that receives a request for records or information under subsection (a) must, if the request meets this section’s requirements, make the records or information available within 30 days. The agency that requested them may inspect or copy them, as appropriate. (2) An entity, including any officer, employee, or agent of the entity, that discloses records or information for inspection or copying under this section in good-faith reliance on the certifications made by an agency under this section is not liable to any person for that disclosure under this subchapter, the constitution of any State, or any law or regulation of any State or political subdivision of any State. (e) Reimbursement of costs An agency that requests records or information under this section may, if appropriations are available, reimburse a private entity for costs the entity reasonably incurs in responding to the request. This may include the costs of identifying, reproducing, or transporting records or other data. (f) Dissemination of records or information received An agency that receives records or information under a request made under this section may share the records or information outside the agency only— (1) with the agency that employs the employee who is the subject of the records or information; (2) with the Department of Justice for law-enforcement or counterintelligence purposes; or (3) with an agency of the United States, if the information is clearly relevant to that agency’s authorized responsibilities. (g) Construction of section Nothing in this section may be interpreted to change an investigative agency’s authority to obtain information under the Right to Financial Privacy Act (12 U.S.C. 3401 et seq.) or the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.).