It is always worse than you think:
President George W. Bush authorized other secret intelligence
activities — which have yet to become public — even as he was launching
the massive warrentless wiretapping program, the summary said. It
describes the entire program as the “President’s Surveillance Program.”
The
report describes the program as unprecedented and raises questions
about the legal grounding used for its creation. It also says the
intelligence agencies’ continued retention and use of the information
collected under the program should be carefully monitored.
I suppose that is AP-speak for “the report basically had a whole page that said SERIOUSLY GUYS WHAT THE SEVEN HELLS?” And I love this paragraph:
intelligence. Others, including FBI, CIA and National Counterterrorism
Center analysts, said intelligence gathered by traditional means was
often more specific and timely, according to the report.
Many people think it was great, except the FBI, CIA, NCC, NSC, all three branches of government, the military, the SEIU, Donald Duck, some dude in a tinfoil beanie waving a sign around, your mom, Paris Hilton, and Bo the First Dog. Other than that, it was universally praised.
Security Agency to intercept international communications that passed
through U.S. cables without court orders.
AFTER THE NEW YORK TIMES EXPOSED THEM FOR THE LIARS THEY ARE. It wasn’t like Bush got up one day, went out into the Rose Garden, stretched, belched, and said, “Just so you all know, I’ve been breaking the law for years heh heh heh.”
Five former Bush administration officials refused to be interviewed,
including former CIA Director George Tenet and former Attorney General
John Ashcroft.
The others: former White House Chief of Staff
Andrew Card; former top Cheney aide David Addington; and John Yoo, who
served as a deputy assistant attorney general.
Perhaps they can address questions for Yoo to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The report suggests Yoo ignored an explicit provision in the FISA law
designed to restrict the government’s authority to conduct electronic
surveillance during wartime. And it said flaws in Yoo’s memos later
presented “a serious impediment” to recertifying the program.
SO AWESOME. Way to be, PI!
Dodd hasn’t weighed in on this yet, according to his site, but Feingold, who back during the FISA immunity fight said basically, “I know all this stuff and trust me, it’s worse than you think,” has beseeched the rest of Congress and the White House toBITE HIM SO HARD:
wiretapping program was blatantly illegal and an unconstitutional
assertion of executive power. I once again call on the Obama
administration and its Justice Department to withdraw the flawed legal
memoranda that justified the program and that remain in effect today.”
A.