Update:
NYT sues for NSA wiretap docs...
18 Democrats sent President Bush a letter demanding the Justice Department name a
special prosecutor in the NSA Wiretap scandal.
"If the effort to prevent vigorous and appropriate investigation succeeds, we fear the inexorable conclusion will be that these executive branch agencies hold themselves above the law and accountable to no one," wrote the lawmakers, led by Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-California, a member of the Judiciary and Homeland Security committees.
They note that the FISA law governing Court issuance of secret warrants carries a penalty for imprisonment for those who go around the measure.
The Justice department and the GAO both have passed on the opportunity to probe the issue. The Justice department is looking into it's own lawyers' behavior, but not to determine the lawfullness of the program... The GAO is a little harder to understand, as they are failing to act because of an assumption the administration will block access to needed documents based on national intelligence claims.
At every juncture, our efforts to seek investigations to answer questions such as these have been stymied, generally based on the feeblest of excuses.
- Letter from 18 Democratic Lawmakers sent 2/26/2006.
In the case of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Attorney General's office, the matter was referred to the Office of Professional Responsiblity (OPR), handily deflecting the question of the legality of the Attorney General's actions in the NSA spying effort. See
Rep. Zoe Lofgren's letter raising the issue last December as the story broke. That December 20, 2005 letter is also signed by numerous other Democrats...
Democrats point to the
Fitzgerald appointment as a example. They intend any prosecutorial effort will also look into obstruction of justice, evidence tampering, and witness intimidation...and the response from the White House?.
"I think that where these Democrats who are calling for this ought to spend their time is on what was the source of the unauthorized disclosure of this vital and critical program in the war on terrorism," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. "I really don't think there is any basis for a special counsel. ... But the fact that this information was disclosed about the existence of this program has given the enemy some of our playbook." - McClellan