warrant of phone calls, electronic mail, and bank accounts by the Department of Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism Offences (DIICOT). The two ordinances have been loosely compared to the U.S. Patriot Act in terms of the powers they give to authorities investigating certain types of crime. Critics in the Parliament, media, and civil society called the ordinances unconstitutional, a violation of privacy, and a drift towards authoritarianism. Several opposition Senators also referenced these ordinances as a reason they passed the February 2007 motion calling for her resignation. Macovei and General Prosecutor Kövesi defended the measures by stating that investigators would not have access to the actual content of records or conversations without warrants, but rather access to information on telephone and electronic traffic. This meant investigators could find out with whom or how an individual communicated, but not what was said. Macovei said that the Romanian government obtained the technology to conduct his type of monitoring with financial support from the U.S. PD President Emil Boc stated on the Romanian talk show Naşul that President Băsescu recommended that Macovei pass the emergency ordinances. Performance as Prosecutor A dossier released by the General Prosecutor's Office in 2008 accused Macovei of "repeated negligence in dealing with cases and repeated delays in resolving some cases" while she was a prosecutor until 1997. Macovei said she had never seen the file but had "nothing to hide" from her time as a prosecutor. She resigned from the position in 1997 following a conflict with then General Prosecutor Nicolae Cochinescu, who was dismissed by President Constantinescu the same year for allegedly blocking politically sensitive investigations. Dan Voiculescu, media owner and leader of the Conservative Party (PC), presented in September 2006 what he claimed were several blank search warrants issued and signed by Monica Macovei in 1984 when she was a prosecutor. PC Deputy Secretary General and former Greater Romania Party member Codrin Stefanescu made a similar claim. Blank warrants were often used during the communist period in Romania to allow prosecutors or police to conduct searches without due process. Macovei replied that the warrant Voiculescu showed to the press was worthless, as it was neither dated nor registered and therefore never valid. She accused Voiculescu of using Securitate-style tactics in making the accusations against her, a clear reference to Voiculescu's own past as a collaborator with the former communist secret police. Voiculescu was one of