Gonzales Suggests Legal Basis for Domestic Eavesdropping

[SHRED]

Jeezus...where did the 4th Amendment go?
Are we fighting for "freedom over there so we don't have to have it over here"?

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April 7, 2006
Gonzales Suggests Legal Basis for Domestic Eavesdropping
By ERIC LICHTBLAU

WASHINGTON, April 6 — Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales suggested on Thursday for the first time that the president might have the legal authority to order wiretapping without a warrant on communications between Americans that occur exclusively within the United States.

"I'm not going to rule it out," Mr. Gonzales said when asked about that possibility at a House Judiciary Committee hearing.

The attorney general made his comments, which critics said reflected a broadened view of the president's authority, as President Bush offered another strong defense of his decision to authorize the National Security Agency to eavesdrop without warrants on international calls and e-mail messages to or from the United States.

Mr. Bush, in an appearance in North Carolina, told a questioner who attacked the program that he would "absolutely not" apologize for authorizing it.

MORE>> http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/07/washington/07nsa.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[DIKB]

1. I saw no

legal basis upon which he based this "authority." Also note that they state between Americans.

Isn't the point of the wiretapping to target terrorists? Does this mean that they can make international calls carefree, but only have to watch what they say here in the U.S.?

[FloridaPat]

2. How about a legal basis for charging treason and imprisonment.

And now that the pres doesn't need a trial or anything to accuse someone of being an enemy combatant, I think we can do away with the same trials for high treason of gov't officials and put them immediately in jail in Gitmo without access to lawyers or pundits.