ToTheCenter - News: Subpoenas Issued for White House Over Wiretapping Program

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Subpoenas Issued for White House Over Wiretapping Program

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A series of subpoenas have been issued to the White House, Vice President Dick Cheney’s office, and the Justice Department today by the Senate Judiciary Committee in regards to the National Security Agency’s warrantless wiretapping program.

According to the New York Times committee chairman Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said the subpoenas seek documents that could shed light on the legal basis used by the administration to justify the wiretapping program. The panel is also seeking materials on the way the program was operated, including the relationship between the agency and several unidentified telecommunications companies that allegedly aided in the program.

The wiretapping program was launched secretly in 2001 by President Bush and run by the National Security Agency. The Guardian Unlimited explains that the spy program monitored international phone calls and emails to or from the United States involving people in the government suspected of having terrorist links. The program, revealed in December 2005, did not require investigators to seek warrants before conducting surveillance. Once the program was challenged in court President Bush put the program under the supervision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, but still claims he has the power to order warentless spying.

Today’s action has been the most aggressive thus far by lawmakers investigating the wiretapping program and promises to provide quite a showdown between the Bush Administration and Congress. The subpoenas follow a May Senate testimony by former deputy attorney general James Comey, who described a major argument over the legality of the program that took place at the hospital bedside of then attorney general John Ashcroft in March 2004.

The disagreement came while Ashcroft lay in intensive care recovering from gall bladder surgery. Then-White House counsel, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales attempted to convince Ashcroft to recertify the program, but both he and Comey refused. The White House then decided to recertify the program unilaterally which prompted Ashcroft, Comey and FBI Director Robert Mueller to threaten to resign. Ultimately the president relented and made the changes that the Justice Department demanded, allowing the program to be recertified.

The sharp disagreements within the administration described by Comey reinvigorated congressional interest in examining the program, as well as gave Democrats an opening to argue that their focus is on whether President Bush violated the law and ignored the advice of the Justice Department. Before Comey’s testimony many Democrats shied away from criticizing the wiretapping program for fear that they would be cast as soft on terrorism.

The wiretapping program is proving to be one of the bitterest disputes of the Bush presidency with many still questioning whether the program tramples on people’s civil liberties. The administration argues that the program is crucial to prevent future terrorist attacks. "It's specifically designed to be effective without infringing Americans' civil liberties,'' White House Spokesman Fratto said in the Guardian Unlimited. "The program is classified for a reason--its purpose is to track down and stop terrorist planning. We remain steadfast in our commitment to keeping Americans safe from an enemy determined to use any means possible--including the latest in technology--to attack us.''

However a majority of Democrats and some Republicans are skeptical, wanting more details about the program and how it has been administered.

The subpoenas seek a wide array of documents on the program from the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks to the present. Documents requested include analysis or opinions from the Justice Department, the National Security Agency, which administers the program, the Defense Department, the White House, or "any entity within the Executive Branch'' on the legality of the electronic surveillance program.

Comments

#1 | seaman93555 on June 28 2007 20:24:23

Unless I am very wrong, we are guaranteed rights that this wire tapping appears to violate. Once again George and Company has sought to undermine the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Is there nothing below them? I am beginning to believe Ross Perot was correct, when he asserted the GOP is a bunch of "dirty tricksters".

#2 | njrepublican on June 28 2007 21:06:38

Leahy has some nerve and a short memory as well. In his home state of Vermont, more than a few of his constituents remember him best as "Leaky Leahy," the one-time vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who had to resign the post in disgrace 14 years ago after acknowledging he divulged secret information to a reporter. "Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, inadvertantly disclosed a top secret communications intercept during a [1985] television interview," reported the San Diego Union-Tribune in a 1987 editorial criticizing Congress' penchant for partisan leaks.

#3 | seaman93555 on June 29 2007 01:45:00

njrepublican - it is obvious you have little use for Democrats, but I have a question for you - what does Leahy have to do with this story? - I understand the story cited Leahy, as a source for the NY Times story. We all make mistakes in life and perhaps this is one of his biggest blunders of all time. This story is about illegal wire taps authorized by the Bush Administration. Since you bring up leaks, what about the name of the spy that was leaked by the Bush Administration?

#4 | Joan1234 on June 29 2007 15:39:39

seaman, do you mean Valorie P. ? The one who lied to the justice dept. I wonder if she will go on trial now. She can share a cell with Scooter

#5 | seaman93555 on July 01 2007 20:17:32

Yes, Joan1234, I believe that was her name, but really can't recall, if this is the name or not. Still, we are straying from the topic - I simply used her, as an example of what the Bush Administration has done in the name "Freedom and Democracy".

This story is about wiretapping! Hello - the story raises serious questions about the legality of the wire tapping authorized by the Bush Administration. I have nothing to hide from anyone, but would find it very difficult to swallow, if I was a victim of the wiretapping scheme. This story is also about freedoms, that we all claim to be dear, yet this story smacks of arrogance and an attempt to undermine those very freedoms.

I was not surprised, when the topic was change in the discussion to something other than illegal wiretapping, since this seems to be the Republican way of averting disaster, when it is an obvious infraction of the law.

#6 | Kagsuke on July 02 2007 19:17:06

if you want to talk about blunders, what about the leaking of the secret wiretapping program? ouch..that one hurts.