McClatchy: Judiciary Committee presses Gonzales on security

[Pirate Smile]

Judiciary Committee presses Gonzales on security

By Greg Gordon
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON - Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined by Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, pressed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales today to explain why it took years to give a special national security court control over the government's domestic spying program.

Committee members pummeled Gonzales, in his first congressional appearance since Democrats seized control of Capitol Hill, with allegations that the administration has damaged the country by trampling on federal civil rights laws and the Constitution in its hunt for terrorists.

``I have never seen a time when our Constitution and fundamental rights as Americans were more threatened by their own government,'' said Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the committee chairman, who is entering his 33rd year in the Senate.

He pointed to ``warrantless wiretapping,'' allegations of torture of terrorism detainees and the evisceration of what he called ``the Great Writ of habeas corpus'' - a detainee's right to challenge the conditions of his confinement.

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/16491298.htm

[iverglas]

1. Americans threatened?? Lead story on CBC site:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/01/18/arar-us.html

U.S. 'knew damn well' Arar would be tortured: senator
Last Updated: Thursday, January 18, 2007 | 5:46 PM ET
CBC News

After sitting through withering criticism in a Senate hearing, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has promised more information on the case of Maher Arar, a Canadian who ended up in a cell in Syria after U.S. officials grabbed him on a stopover in New York.

Gonzales was grilled relentlessly on Thursday by Senate judiciary committee chairman Patrick Leahy. Leahy said that when Arar — a citizen of both Canada and Syria travelling on a Canadian passport — was detained in 2002, American authorities knew he would be tortured if they deported him to Syria.

..."Before you get more upset," he told Leahy, "perhaps you should wait to receive the briefing."

"How long?" the senator responded.

"I'm hoping that we can get you the information next week."

and on the CTV website:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070118/arar_deportation_070118/20070118?hub=TopStories

and at the Globe and Mail:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070118.warar0118/BNStory/National/home

Democrat Patrick Leahy, who heads the Senate judiciary committee, told Mr. Gonzales that Canadians are "justifiably upset" and demanded to know why Mr. Arar remains on the U.S. security watch list despite being exonerated of any terrorist links."

This country has not said anything at all, that we made a mistake or had an apology," said Mr. Leahy.

Second from the top at the Toronto Star:
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/172524


Not many USAmericans have been shipped to Syria to be tortured, in violation of international law to which the US is subject by its own agreement, as far as I know.

But you have our sympathies nonetheless, eh?

[Proletariatprincess]

2. This entire exchanged ignored

by the PBS Snoozer Hour tonite. I was furious. The issue of Habeas Corpus is not newsworthy to Public television? wow. In fact, most of the coverage I saw skimmed over the issue. Perhaps all the MSM people are in some windowless room being briefed by the administration propagandists on talking points framing Leahy as a rageaholic...like they did Dean. I'm sure we will hear more about this...just cant imagine that such an exchange will not be used somewhere by either side eventually. Have I missed it somewhere else? Maybe it is too early. We'll see.

[CHIMO]

3. Anyone Heard About Blowback

http://news.google.ca/news?q=arar+senate&hl=en&lr=&ct=title&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d

[rodeodance]

5. just today. thanks for the post

[rodeodance]

4. interesting. specter tells him the NSA snooping was one reason Rupugs

lost the election.



But Gonzales was unflappable. He coolly declined to provide specifics of the newly disclosed spy program, worked out with a judge on the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, saying such matters are classified.

He told the panel that the program will comply fully with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the 1978 law that created the court and set a looser standard for wiretaps and other surveillance in national security investigations.

Pennsylvania Sen. Specter attempted to put to rest concerns that the court had given some sort of secret, blanket authority to the Justice Department to conduct wiretaps to monitor the activities of suspected terrorists. Specter said two senior Justice Department officials advised him, during a private briefing after the new arrangement was announced Wednesday, that orders signed by a member of the court provide for ``individualized'' treatment of warrant applications.

But Specter noted that the program to monitor suspicious international phone calls involving Americans is five years old, told Gonzales that he could not ``help but conclude that there has not been a sufficient sense of urgency on the part of the Department of Justice to get this job done faster. It is not a 19-month undertaking.''

He said disclosure of the program, just as Congress was completing revisions to the USA Patriot Act in December 2005, ``was a major complicating factor'' that wound up weakening the legislation.

``And we lost a close election,'' he said on the Democrats' victory in November. ``The heavy criticism which the president took on the program, I think, was very harmful.''