http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_Security_Enhancement_Act_of_2003"The draft version of the bill would expand the powers of the United States while simultaneously curtailing judicial review of these powers.
Members of the United States Congress said that they had not seen the drafts, though the documents obtained by the CPI indicated that House speaker Dennis Hastert and US Vice President Dick Cheney have received copies."
Here is the control sheet from the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003:
http://www.publicintegrity.org/docs/PatriotAct/story_01_020703_doc_2.pdfHere is the control sheet from the DOJ document dump, this is known to be authentic:
They're identical.
The draft of the law was confirmed to be real by the DOJ spokesperson back in 2003,
but the "control sheet" showing Cheney and Hastert had seen the draft law was not confirmed.You may not realize the significance of this, but this document proves that Cheney knew the legal justification for the NSA warrantless wiretapping program was bullshit.
This law would have changed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to allow an Authorization of Military Force (AUMF) to trigger a period of 15 days in which warrants would not be need to wiretap anyone for foreign intelligence purposes.
If that doesn't make sense, that's because they were bullshitting us. We knew that, but we still have to prove it, and this does that. This went all the way to the VP and the Speaker of the House.
This law would have legalized the NSA spy program, indirectly, but for only 15 days.
Why legalize something you think is already legal?I've been reporting on this since I first joined DU last year about the time of the NSA spying scandal, and that's why I've kept an eye out for this info.