Illegal Wiretapping Program

From TPM:

According to the Post, the reason for the administration's feverish effort to get legislation to expand its surveillance powers under FISA is that earlier this year a FISA Court judge declared a key portion of the administration's program illegal. The ruling of course was secret. And it seems that until now the White House had kept this information hidden from Congress.

So why are we finding this out now? Well, that's another interesting story. Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) went on Fox News Tuesday night and discussed the whole thing. But the very existence of the ruling is highly classified. So it seems he publicly revealed highly classified information.

Needless to say, his flack disagrees: claims that Boehner leaked classified secrets on Fox News are "just plain wrong and distracts from the critical task at hand -- fixing FISA to close the serious intelligence gaps that are jeopardizing our national security."

Working Assets has set up an easy avenue to speak out against the President's proposed program for wiretapping and other electronic surveillance of Americans. They have put it this way.

Congress is on the verge of giving the Bush administration the power to wiretap American citizens without a warrant or court order.

According to the L.A. Times, the top-secret FISA court -- that has consistently approved Bush administration eavesdropping operations -- recently imposed restrictions on how U.S. spy agencies can intercept email and telephone calls of suspected terrorists overseas.

In response, Bush is now pressuring Congress to force Internet and telecom companies to provide access to emails and phone calls without warrants or court review.

Who decides which phones or email accounts can be tapped? The Bush administration wants the power to reside in the hands of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Ironically, Gonzales now faces threats of impeachment and perjury charges as a result of lying under oath to the Congress about the NSA wiretapping scandal.

The Washington Post reports Democrats have already indicated their willingness to compromise with the Bush administration. But taking any hasty action to change surveillance laws would be premature and unwise.

Since September 11, the Congress has rolled over time and time again as the Bush administration has repeatedly played the terrorism card. If Bush gives the spying agencies unfettered access to our telephone and email systems, the privacy of Americans who may be at the other end of a phone call from a Gonzales-designated "terrorism suspect" will surely be compromised.

It's time for our Senators and Members of Congress to get a backbone and stand up to presidential bullying.

Tell your Senators and Member of Congress: Don't give Bush the power to wiretap Americans without a warrant or court review.

You can find the Working Assets response form here.


3 August 2007