A Spy Program in From the Cold --NYT

[spindrifter]

Published: January 18, 2007

Of the many ways that President Bush has trampled civil liberties and the balance of powers since the 9/11 attacks, one of the most egregious was his decision to order wiretaps of Americans’ international calls and e-mail without court approval. It was good news, then, when the administration announced yesterday that it would now seek a warrant from the proper court for that sort of eavesdropping.

The president’s decision hardly ends this constitutional crisis. Among other things, the public needs to know why Mr. Bush broke the law for more than five years and what should be done to ensure there will be no more abuses of the wiretap statute.

But we’re pleased that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales informed leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee that Mr. Bush had decided to end the warrantless program. He said the administration had worked out a way to speed the process of getting a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to intercept communications to and from the United States “where there is probable cause to believe that one of the communicants is a member or agent of Al Qaeda or an associated terrorist organization.”

He said the court — created by the 1978 law on domestic wiretapping — issued an order on Jan. 10 governing this new process and that eavesdropping under “the terrorist surveillance program” would be subject to the court’s approval. There are still some big unanswered questions. For one thing, because the new warrant process is secret, we don’t know whether the court has issued a blanket approval for wiretapping, which would undermine the intent of the law, or whether the administration agreed to seek individual warrants.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/18/opinion/18thu1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[originalpckelly]

1. The court cannot issue a blanket approval...

there is no statutory authority for it anywhere. Snarlin' Arlen's bill didn't pass.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

10. thank that godlike entity, wherever she is.

Snarlin' was purdy scared when the fascists in the GOP senate were pushing him around on judicial nominations and similar moves. Now that those guys have lost all power and respect, where does that leave him? About the same place as another fool who tied his future to Bush's - John "Strait-Talc" McCain.

[williesgirl]

2. Proof they're afraid of the Dems in Congress! Now, keep going and get in line w/the law and

Constitution. recommended

[Kikosexy2]

16. Great...

that they backed away from illegal wiretapping but...really...did they???hmmm? or are we being told what we want to hear but yet they will secretly continue illegal wiretappings???...hmmm?...

[ToolTex]

3. Sure we violated the law for two years but we will stop now.

OK. Thanks for stopping your rape of us.

Is it just me, or shouldn't someone do some prison time for violating our Constitutional guarantees for a couple of years? I don't get off just by saying I'm going to stop driving over the speed limits.

[Straight Shooter]

4. Is any member of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court vulnerable to being purged?

The bush administration is systematically removing federal judges and replacing them with lackeys, without Congressional approval. (Thanks for nothing, Snarlin' Arlen, and your extra dog droppings in the Patriot Act.)

Is the court which oversees FISA safe from such malicious tampering by the bush administration? If not, then we'll have a rubberstamp for whoever bush wants to wiretap. Nothing will change.

[bleever]

5. The interplay between the executive branch and the

Fourth Estate seems to be in a "correction" phase.

What was once disloyal to ask is now common knowledge.

[Bitwit1234]

6. He can't run again so he does not need to listen

to the democrats, and the canadates calls. Besides maybe Gonzales told him he really was violating the constitution with this one. And he knows Rangel and Leahy aren't fooling around.

[KittyWampus]

12. they are still doing it, but with a colluding federal judge. But they get a favorable headline

[niceypoo]

7. Someone is trying not to get impeached........guess who?

[Lasher]

8. This won't deflect Congressional investigation

From the NY Times editorial:

We strongly agree with John Rockefeller IV, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, that “the administration’s go-it-alone approach, effectively excluding Congress and the courts and operating outside the law, was unnecessary” and that the White House should turn over documents on the creation of the wiretapping program. If the 1978 law needs to be updated, that should happen in public, not in a secret court.

Here's what Rockefeller said in a January 17 press release:

SENATOR ROCKEFELLER’S REACTION TO JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCEMENT THAT NSA SURVEILLANCE WILL BE BROUGHT UNDER FISA

“The announcement today is welcome news, but it is also confirmation that the Administration’s go-it-alone approach, effectively excluding Congress and the courts and operating outside the law, was unnecessary.

“The President could have and should have worked with the Congress immediately following September 11, 2001, to fashion a surveillance program that was in compliance with all existing statutes.

“I intend to move forward with the committee’s review of all aspects of this program’s legality and effectiveness.

“Unfortunately, our efforts continue to be hampered by the Administration’s unwillingness to provide the committee with relevant documents such as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court’s orders, the Administration’s legal briefs filed with the court, and the President’s authorization orders.

“The President has decided that he will cooperate with the court to put this program on sounder legal footing. I encourage him also to cooperate with the Congress to build the broad support that our counterterrorism programs deserve.”

In addition to the Senate Judiciary Committee, I'll also be watching the Intelligence Committee for some fireworks.

[Vinca]

9. Ahhh . . . the power of Patrick Leahy. Vermont should be proud. nt

[IWantAChange]

11. A crack in BizzaroWorld? Get caught and then play by the rules.

I only hope the WHOLE country appreciates how Democrats are going to save the Republic.

[heinz]

13. Same thing is still going on, just under a different name!

Well someone already said this but I will say it again. We still have a secret court that is doing whatever it wants with no over site, and that is a huge constitutional crisis. I can't believe that a secret court even exists in the U.S. I bet all kinds of people have fallen into a hole because of this court just like with Gitmo. The people involved in this kind of thing are traitors, and they should all be hauled off to jail for pissing on the Constitution, and if Nancy wants to keep her job she better bring this up! This is a big win actually for Bush if you ask me. He gets to keep doing the same shit but looks good in the press.

[subterranean]

14. The warrant excuse is BS

As mentioned here many times before (and as the MSM often failed to mention), they have always been able to get a FISA warrant retroactively, AFTER conducting the wiretap. Speed was never an issue. If there was probable cause to believe a member of al Qaeda was involved, the warrant would have been granted automatically. But they didn't want to accept even that minimal level of oversight.

[Morgana LaFey]

15. See this thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x3146598