More on the Illegal Wiretaps
Thursday’s New York Times will be carrying this piece, entitled “Senate Panel Rebuffed on Documents on U.S. Spying”. A highlight:
In the interview, Mr. Specter said that he wanted a fuller explanation as to how the Justice Department asserts that the eavesdropping operation does not conflict with the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which set strict and “exclusive” guidelines for intelligence wiretaps.
The operation was approved by President Bush, to allow the National Security Agency to conduct wiretaps on Americans’ international communications without a court warrant. Mr. Specter said his view was that the operation “violates FISA – there’s no doubt about that.”
He also questioned why the administration did not go to Congress or the intelligence court to seek changes in the process before moving ahead on its own with the classified program after the Sept. 11 attacks.
While I disagree with him on some issues, I must say that Arlen Specter is one of the good ones.