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Subject: RE: [TSCM-L] Gonzales: "Screw the Constitution"
Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2006 16:25:18 -0500
Message-ID: <86F778A10BF50F4881A2DC803A5F9BF30204A969_at_hbg-exs1.tcore.com>
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Thread-Topic: [TSCM-L] Gonzales: "Screw the Constitution"
Thread-Index: AcYsKfwpuGhS9RTnR0+1NrVbMadmzQAAswSA
From: "Nalesnik, Matthew" <Matthew..._at_transcore.com>
To: <TSCM-..._at_googlegroups.com>
They can listen to my phone calls if they want, I'm not a terrorist. Of co=
urse, I don't have any phone calls coming into me from out of country from =
suspected terrorist cells. Wah.
-----Original Message-----
From: =09TSCM-..._at_googlegroups.com [mailto:TSCM-..._at_googlegroups.com] On B=
ehalf Of James M. Atkinson
Sent:=09Tuesday, February 07, 2006 3:52 PM
To:=09TSCM-L
Subject:=09[TSCM-L] Gonzales: "Screw the Constitution"
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/07/gonzales.nsa.tm/index.html
In defense of eavesdropping
By BRIAN BENNETT AND MASSIMO CALABRES
WASHINGTON -- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales sipped water, read=20
from bread-box sized law books and generally kept his cool through a=20
barrage of questions Monday as Senators from both parties tried to=20
corner him on the limits of presidential wartime powers. It was the=20
first real public debate in Congress since 9/11 about presidential=20
authority in times of war, and so while the hearing was ostensibly=20
about the President's secret warrantless wiretapping program, the=20
most exercised debate was about how far the Commander in Chief's=20
powers could be taken without judicial oversight.
"Mr. Attorney General," Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont=20
said at one point, "I'm getting the impression this administration=20
picks and chooses what it's subject to." Senators asked directly if=20
opening first class mail or listening to calls beginning and ending=20
inside the U.S. without notifying a court could be justified under=20
the same argument. Gonzales wouldn't answer, saying he couldn't talk=20
about operational details. Senators repeatedly pressed him on who was=20
keeping the National Security Agency (NSA) program in check. How=20
could Americans be assured that the government was only listening to=20
the phone calls of known terrorists?
The NSA performs its own oversight, said Gonzales. The program, he=20
argued, is run by professional intelligence officers, and the NSA=20
Inspector General reviews the program to be sure the agency is not=20
listening in on the conversations of unsuspecting citizens. Also, he=20
added, the program itself, which only monitors phone calls where one=20
end originates outside the U.S., is renewed every 45 days on the=20
condition, said Gonzales, that "al Qaeda continues to pose a threat."
The NSA wiretaps were performed without obtaining the warrants=20
beforehand required by the law that governs eavesdropping on foreign=20
agents, in part, because the process is "cumbersome and burdensome,"=20
said Gonzales. Convinced that it wasn't necessary, the Bush=20
Administration did not ask Congress to streamline the procedures to=20
perform these wiretaps. Senators cited five recent examples when=20
changes in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) were=20
passed at the request of the White House. When asked, Gonzales=20
argued, it wasn't necessary because the president's constitutionally=20
granted powers, as well as the specific wartime authority granted=20
after 9/11, allow the President to authorize these types of wiretaps,=20
without a change of existing law. The program "is an early warning=20
system for the 21st century," Gonzales said.
Unlike Republican colleagues Orrin Hatch of Utah or John Cornyn of=20
Texas, Chairman Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania didn't easily accept=20
that rationale. He expressed his skepticism early on, telling=20
Gonzales that federal law has a "forceful and blanket prohibition=20
against any electronic surveillance without a court order"; he even=20
suggested that the program's legality should be reviewed by a special=20
court. Specter did come to Gonzales' aid early on, when Democrats on=20
the committee ate up twenty minutes with a doomed procedural vote to=20
force Gonzales to testify under oath, a gesture Chairman Arlen=20
Specter (R - Pennsylvania) thought was unnecessary.
Kevin Griffey, a 27-year-old mechanical engineer from San Diego,=20
California, interrupted the proceedings midway through the day by=20
jumping up and calling Gonzales, at the top of his lungs, a "lazy=20
fascist." Griffey, who was subsequently escorted from the hearing,=20
had attended a protest at the White House on Saturday and wanted to=20
attend the hearing because he felt Gonzales has been misinterpreting=20
the law. "It might be the only opportunity to talk to the=20
Administration," he told TIME after he was taken out of the building.=20
"He might hear what I had to say."
That is doubtful. But Gonzales heard plenty of what the Senators had=20
to say. When Senator Russ Feingold, Democrat of Wisconsin, suggested=20
the former White House Counsel had been less than truthful during his=20
Attorney General confirmation hearings a year ago for saying that a=20
question about warrantless wiretapping was "hypothetical," Gonzales=20
remained firm; the question was indeed hypothetical, he retorted,=20
because Feingold had asked him whether he thought the president could=20
authorize eavesdropping "in violation of the law."
Questions about the operational specifics of the NSA program bounced=20
off Gonzales all day -- "what happens to the data?", "how long is it=20
retained?" -- none of which Gonzales would answer. "An open=20
discussion of the operational details would put the lives of=20
Americans at risk," he claimed.
Sitting in the front row of the spectator's gallery Richard Fisher, a=20
retired social studies teacher from Hinsdale, Ill. had the same=20
questions. After a recent trip to the Middle East, Fisher was curious=20
if any of his phone calls or emails to the region are now in the=20
NSA's database and sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request=20
to find out. The NSA responded that they could neither confirm nor=20
deny that they intercepted copies of his communications. He's written=20
an appeal and is still waiting for an answer. "It's not about getting=20
money," said Fisher, leaning back in his gallery chair during the=20
hearing, "it's about knowing. Yes, you have the information or no you=20
don't." After spending the day with Gonzales, Senators looking for=20
some detailed answers about the controversial wiretapping program had=20
to be just as unsatisfied.
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We Expertly Hunt Real Spies, Real Eavesdroppers, and Real Wiretappers.
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James M. Atkinson Phone: (978) 546-3803
Granite Island Group Fax: (978) 546-9467
127 Eastern Avenue #291 Web:
http://www.tscm.co=
m/
Gloucester, MA 01931-8008 Email: mailto:jm..._at_tscm.com
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World Class, Professional, Ethical, and Competent Bug Sweeps, and
Wiretap Detection using Sophisticated Laboratory Grade Test Equipment.
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