Follow-up to yesterday’s posting, Judiciary Cmte. Holds Hearing on NSA Wiretapping, in today’s New York Times, Judges on Secretive Panel Speak Out on Spy Program. Related postings on domestic surveillance Continue Reading
Follow-up to yesterday’s posting, Judiciary Cmte. Holds Hearing on NSA Wiretapping, in today’s New York Times, Judges on Secretive Panel Speak Out on Spy Program. Related postings on domestic surveillance Continue Reading
In a letter sent yesterday to President Bush, the nine Democrats on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence again called for all 20 members of the committee to be briefed on the details of the NSA surveillance program. This request has been denied. Related postings on domestic surveillance Continue Reading
Hearing – NSA III: War Time Executive Power and the FISA Court, Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Tuesday, March 28, 2006. Statement of Sen. Patrick Leahy, Vermont: “We desperately need some answers to basic questions about the Presidents decision to wiretap Americans on American soil without court approval and without attempting to comply with the… Continue Reading
Press release: Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) Friday sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales [text included in the press release] seeking information on court cases that may have been compromised by the Bush Administrations illegal domestic spying program..Leahy…and Kennedy…ask Gonzales to provide the committee with information on all legal challenges… Continue Reading
Press release: “On Thursday, Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA)…[introduced] legislation to address the NSA’s warrantless surveillance of Americans on American soil…The bill, the NSA OVERSIGHT ACT, would: Reiterate Current FISA and Wiretap Laws – states that FISA and the federal criminal wiretap statutes shall continue to be the exclusive means by which domestic electronic surveillance may… Continue Reading
Press release: “In New York on March 9, 2006, attorneys with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed a significant motion for summary judgment in the challenge to the legality of the NSA Domestic Spying Program (CCR v. Bush), asserting that the Bush Administration has already admitted enough incriminating facts to prove the NSA Program… Continue Reading
Press release – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts today made the following statement: “Several weeks ago I began discussing with the White House the need to expand this Committee’s oversight of the Terrorist Surveillance Program and to begin engaging with Congress on possible legislative approaches. Before our last recess, I asked the members of the Intelligence… Continue Reading
Follow-up to National Journal Article Claims Curtailed Gov’t Surveillance Program Still Active, from today’s New York Times, Taking Spying to Higher Level, Agencies Look for More Ways to Mine Data: “…by fundamentally changing the nature of surveillance, high-tech data mining raises privacy concerns that are only beginning to be debated widely. That is because to… Continue Reading
Why Should Anyone Worry About Whose Communications Bush and Cheney Are Intercepting, If It Helps To Find Terrorists? by John W. Dean “Here, I will look only at the issue of whether the average American has anything to truly be worried about, as NSA electronically sifts through endless digital exchanges to find the proverbial needle-in-a-haystack.”… Continue Reading
National Security Archives press release: “Under pressure from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, the Justice Department on February 10 conceded in federal court that it could begin releasing as early as March 3 the internal legal memos relied on by the Bush administration in setting up the controversial National Security Agency warrantless wiretapping program.… Continue Reading
There have been several recent congressional communications and related articles addressing whether or not authors of CRS reports on issues pertaining to domestic surveillance have demonstrated bias in their research. Links to relevant documents are in chronological order, as follows: Letter from Congressman Peter Hoekstra, Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, to… Continue Reading
Press release: “The Committee Democrats first asked Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for correspondence, memoranda and legal opinions on January 27 in a letter. Senators sought the information in anticipation of the Feb. 6 hearing the committee is holding on the controversial surveillance program. So far, the Department has not responded. The text of the letter… Continue Reading