5,000 Americans Spied On In “Terrorist Surveillance” Program, Nearly All Cleared As Suspects
Time MIKE ALLEN February 4, 2006 at 01:54 PM
READ MORE: George W. Bush
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales plans to use a Congressional hearing on Monday to lash out at "misinformed, confused" news accounts about President George W. Bush's warrantless eavesdropping program, and to declare it "is not a dragnet," according to administration documents provided to TIME. "I cannot and will not address operational aspects of the program or other purported activities described in press reports," he plans to say in testimony prepared for the Senate Judiciary Committee. "These press accounts are in almost every case, in one way or another, misinformed, confused, or wrong."
According to the documents, Gonzales plans to assert in his opening statement that seeking approval for the wiretaps from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court could result in delays that "may make the difference between success and failure in preventing the next attack." He will compare the program to telegraph wiretapping during the Civil War. In accompanying testimony, the Attorney General plans to leave open the possibility that President Bush will ask the court to give blanket approval to the program, a step that some lawmakers and even some Administration officials contend would put it on more solid legal footing.
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READ MORE: George W. Bush
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales plans to use a Congressional hearing on Monday to lash out at "misinformed, confused" news accounts about President George W. Bush's warrantless eavesdropping program, and to declare it "is not a dragnet," according to administration documents provided to TIME. "I cannot and will not address operational aspects of the program or other purported activities described in press reports," he plans to say in testimony prepared for the Senate Judiciary Committee. "These press accounts are in almost every case, in one way or another, misinformed, confused, or wrong."
According to the documents, Gonzales plans to assert in his opening statement that seeking approval for the wiretaps from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court could result in delays that "may make the difference between success and failure in preventing the next attack." He will compare the program to telegraph wiretapping during the Civil War. In accompanying testimony, the Attorney General plans to leave open the possibility that President Bush will ask the court to give blanket approval to the program, a step that some lawmakers and even some Administration officials contend would put it on more solid legal footing.
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posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 12:41 AM
3 Comments:
Wow - it's crazy to think the rule of law is being chipped away at its very foundation.
Interesting, albeit frightening, situation you guys are bearing witness to in the US right now.
Welcome to Reb Alex.
I have always said the more Aussis here, the better. You are welcome any time.
Yes my beloved country is very troubled these days.
Isn't that a Chinese curse? To live in 'interesting' times..?
It seems like a curse. But I do not know how to not have hope in my nation. Perhaps I am blinded by futility.
Atleast I have the comfort of understanding what it is I fear.
Hey Alex Welcome to Reb from Down Under.
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