US citizen spy program probe
p2pnet.net News:- A piece of legislation dear to the heart of US president George W. Bush appears to be in serious danger.
The US Justice Department says it’s launching an internal investigation over the, “handling of information gathered” in America’s domestic spying program,says The Los Angeles Times, going on:
“However, Democrats criticized the review as not going far enough to determine whether the program violates federal law.
“The inquiry by Inspector General Glenn A. Fine will focus on the role of department prosecutors and agents in carrying out the warrantless surveillance program run by the National Security Agency.”
But Fine isn’t expected to address whether or not the citizen spy program, “is an unconstitutional expansion of presidential power, as its critics and a federal judge in Detroit have charged,” says the story.
Democrats said they saw the probe, “as a welcome step that could answer questions about the operations and legal underpinnings of the program, which allows the National Security Agency to monitor, without obtaining court warrants, the international communications of Americans and others inside this country with suspected terrorist ties,” says The New York Times, also stating:
“Officials said the investigation could examine the legal authority given to the Justice Department under a secret executive order first signed by Mr. Bush in October 2001, as well as the laws and procedures governing intelligence wiretaps under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which was approved by Congress in 1978 after the Watergate scandal and required a special court warrant for wiretaps on Americans. The review could also look at how intelligence generated by the eavesdropping was used to seek traditional court warrants and to pursue criminal cases, the officials said.”
Also See:
The Los Angeles Times – NSA spy program is under review, November 28, 2006
The New York Times – Justice Official Opens Spying Inquiry, November 28, 2006
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November 29th, 2006 at 12:16 am
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act = FISA
FISA presides over a secret court system. One of the main functions of this system is to issue warrants to US surveillance agencies for wiretaps. The warrants can even be filed after the wiretap has been put in place.
WHY DO THEY NEED WARRANTLESS WIRETAPS? WHY DO THEY SUBVERT PRUDENT JUDICIAL OVERSIGHT? WHAT DO THEY HAVE TO HIDE????