Administration Responds to Concerns About Domestic Surveillance Citing Exemption

Following up on related postings in the past several days, see the following references, resources, statements and news:

  • Electronic Surveillance: 50 USC 1801 – 50 USC 1811.
  • Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
  • Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Orders 1979-2004
  • Congressional Record: December 16, 2005 (Senate)[Page S13736-S13749]. Statement of Sen. Feinstein: “…Let me be clear. Domestic intelligence collection is governed by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as FISA. This law sets out a careful set of checks and balances that are designed to ensure that domestic intelligence collection is conducted in accordance with the Constitution, under the supervision of judges and with accountability to the Congress of the United States. Specifically, FISA allows the Government to wiretap phones or to open packages, but only with a showing to a special court–the FISA court–and after meeting a legal standard that requires that the effort is based on probable cause to believe the target is an agent of a foreign power…”
  • AP: Gonzales: Congress authorized domestic spying: “Responding to a congressional uproar, the Bush administration said Monday that a secret domestic surveillance program had yielded intelligence results that would not have been available otherwise in the war on terror.”
  • Gonzales: War powers authorized eavesdropping
  • Press Conference of the President, The East Room, 10:32 A.M. EST, December 19, 2005: “…consistent with U.S. law and the Constitution, I authorized the interception of international communications of people with known links to al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations. This program is carefully reviewed approximately every 45 days to ensure it is being used properly. Leaders in the United States Congress have been briefed more than a dozen times on this program. And it has been effective in disrupting the enemy, while safeguarding our civil liberties.”
  • Lawmakers Call for Domestic Spying Probe
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    Posted in: Civil Liberties, Congress, E-Mail, Government Documents, Internet, Privacy
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