You have to feel bad for AG Gonzales. Were his timing a little better, he could have been on the Supreme Court by now, and instead of having to defend the administration, this former Democrat would be free of its shackles.
Instead, he dutifully trudged before the Senate Judiciary Committee to "explain" that the power of "war" granted after 9/11 extends to the right to do an end run around FISA.
You have to feel bad for AG Gonzales. Were his timing a little better, he could have been on the Supreme Court by now, and instead of having to defend the administration, this former Democrat would be free of its shackles.
Instead, he dutifully trudged before the Senate Judiciary Committee to "explain" that the power of "war" granted after 9/11 extends to the right to do an end run around FISA.
Once the Senate was finished bickering over whether the AG had to be sworn in (hint: if you say that you were going to say the truth anyway, just take the oath and save us some time), Gonzales had to dance around the traps set by the Democrats:
Feinstein asked if the President had the right to circumvent the prohibition on domestic covert operations.
The answer: I can't answer that now.
Leahy asked Gonzales if the President had the power to circumvent safeguards.
Gonzales refused to answer.
Even Republicans such as DeWine and Specter cast doubt on the current operation as described.
Based on my research, the Executive Branch has the right to surveil communications abroad without a warrant, including those that come into the U.S.
What is not allowed (unless a FISA warrant is issued within 72 hours before or after the surveillance) is surveillance of U.S. Persons or non-U.S. Persons on U.S. soil. The Administration has indicated that only communications leaving the U.S. to non-U.S. locations were surveilled. That clearly does not fall under the exceptions to FISA and at no point has the Bush Administration asked to surveil internal communications or outbound communications, even though they certainly were given such an opportunity to do so, with regards to the Patriot Act and its subsequent renewal.
In the entire 23-year history of FISA only once has the FISA Court turned down a warrant request, and that occasion, during the Ashcroft watch, is still under appeal.
The Administration has chosen to spin this that the Democrats are enslaved by "pre-9/11 Thinking" and that to punish those who engaged in questionable behavior would discourage enthusiastic agents from doing their job.
Last I checked the U.S. Constitution was written before 9/11, and it remains the job of our government, with checks and balances to ensure that no abuses occur.
It is possible, even probable that no abuses occurred. Such abuses, if discovered would be disastrous for Bush.
But unless such checks exist, how will we ever know?
But unless there