Senators Seek Probe of Bush's Spying Orders

By Adam Entous and Tabassum Zakaria
Reuters

Tuesday 20 December 2005

Washington - Rebuffing assurances from President George W. Bush, bipartisan members of the US Senate's Intelligence Committee called on Tuesday for an immediate inquiry into his authorization of spying on Americans.

But Vice President Dick Cheney predicted a backlash against critics of the administration's anti-terrorism policies as he forcefully defended a program that critics say may have exceeded Bush's powers.

Republican Sens. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Olympia Snowe of Maine joined Democratic Sens. Carl Levin of Michigan, Dianne Feinstein of California and Ron Wyden of Oregon in calling for a joint investigation by the Senate Intelligence and Judiciary Committees into whether the government eavesdropped "without appropriate legal authority."

Several Republican and Democratic lawmakers have raised questions about whether spying on Americans violates the US Constitution and have already backed a plan for a congressional hearing into the program, first revealed by The New York Times last week.

Bush and senior administration officials have defended as legal the policy of authorizing without court orders eavesdropping on international phone calls by Americans suspected of links to terrorism.

They argue it provided the agility - beyond a 1978 law allowing court-warranted eavesdropping - to help defend the country after the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

'Hell of a Threat'

Cheney, speaking to reporters during a trip to the Middle East and Asia, said: "The president and I believe very deeply that there is a hell of a threat," adding this obliged them to "do everything in our power to defeat the terrorists."

"And I don't think that there is anything improper or inappropriate in that and my guess is that the vast majority of the American people support that, support what we're doing, believe we ought to be doing it," he said.

"So there's a backlash pending, I think the backlash is going to be against those who are suggesting somehow we shouldn't take these steps in order to defend the country," he said, speaking on a plane to Oman from Pakistan.

Bush said on Monday the program, which he had reauthorized more than 30 times since September 11, had been effective in disrupting terrorist acts, but he gave no details. He noted that congressional leaders have been briefed on it more than a dozen times.

The eavesdropping program is the latest in a series of administration policies in Bush's declared war on terrorism that have prompted questions over whether the line has been crossed between protecting the public and protecting civil rights.

The senators calling for an investigation demanded detailed information on the program, including on its legality.

"It is critical that Congress determine, as quickly as possible, exactly what collection activities were authorized, what were actually undertaken, how many names and numbers were involved over what period, and what was the asserted legal authority for such activities. In sum, we must determine the facts," they said in a joint letter.

Go to Original