Wiretaps Up Sharply in Clinton Administration WASHINGTON (Reuter) - The Clinton administration has sharply increased use of federal telephone wiretaps and other electronic surveillance in the United States since taking office, The Washington Post reported Sunday. ... Civil rights and privacy advocates were upset with the trend but unable to do much about it ... Frederick Ness, who runs the Justice Department office that approves applications for court-ordered wiretaps, told the Post: ``We are up 30 to 40 percent this year.'' In 1992, the last year of the Bush administration, there were 340 federal court orders permitting electronic surveillance in criminal cases, the newspaper said. Quoting unidentified officials, the report said that number had risen to 672 last year and almost certainly would exceed 700 in 1996. The figures did not include ``national security'' wiretap orders, obtained under intelligence legislation, which also had been rising dramatically, the Post said. Preparing for expected continued growth in surveillance of domestic criminals, the Justice Department was buying additional high-tech equipment, developing new eavesdropping techniques and adding support personnel, the report said.