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After a series of Congressional calls for hearings and investigations into the administration’s controversial post 9/11 domestic surveillance program, news today from several sources confirming that probes have indeed been launched, and hearings scheduled. Questions remain as to when, and if, the conclusions will be made public. Additionally, ABC News reports that former NSA “insider” …
Corporate responsibility: Reporters Without Borders urges Internet users and bloggers to support its recommendations on freedom of expression. Related reference: Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents
Poll: Most Want Court OK for Gov’t Taps AP/Ipsos Poll Eavesdropping Poll Method Postings on domestic surveillance
CDT: “Fourteen of the nation’s leading experts on constitutional law today issued an analysis concluding that “the Justice Department’s defense of what it concedes was secret and warrantless electronic surveillance of persons within the United States fails to identify any plausible legal authority for such surveillance. Accordingly the program appears on its face to violate …
Washington Post: U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Judge Samuel Alito’s Nomination to the Supreme Court, Part I of II, Courtesy FDCH e-Media, Monday, January 9, 2006; 12:59 PM. Read below the opening statements of the first thirteen senators’ opening statements. The final statements, and Judge Alito’s opening statement, can be found in Part II …
A Legal Analysis of the NSA Warrantless Surveillance Program, by Morton H. Halperin, January 6, 2006 Secrecy News: “Halperin, a leading civil libertarian and former Pentagon and State Department official, played an influential role in the enactment of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978, which subjected intelligence surveillance within the United States to …
Press release, January 6, 2006: “U.S. Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin today sent a letter to House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert requesting that a special House panel be created “to undertake an immediate investigation and hearings into the President’s purported authority to conduct eavesdropping of U.S. citizens without a court order.” Press release, January 9, 2005: …
The Senate Committee on the Judiciary has scheduled a hearing on the nomination of Samuel A. Alito, Jr. to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States for Monday, January 9, 2006 at 12:00 p.m. in the Senate Hart Office Building Room 216. Chairman Specter will preside. Media Guidelines for the …
AP: Specter Seeks AG’s Testimony on Spying Related references: December 19, 2005 Press Briefing by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and General Michael Hayden, Principal Deputy Director for National Intelligence. The NSA Spy Engine: Echelon, by Jason Leopold Related postings on domestic surveillance
CRS Report, January 5, 2006: Presidential Authority to Conduct Warrantless Electronic Surveillance to Gather Foreign Intelligence Information (44 pages, PDF) Related references: New York Times, Report Questions Legal Basis for Bush’s Spying Program: “President Bush’s rationale for authorizing eavesdropping on American citizens without warrants rests on questionable legal ground and “may represent an exercise of …
The Washington Post today reported that the FISA Court judges will be briefed by intelligence officials next week on details regarding post 9/11 authorization of domestic wiretapping. In addition, the article states that only the court’s presiding judge was informed about the program prior to the information becoming public in December 2005. Related references: How …
From FAS, this link to a new CRS report, National Security Whistleblowers, December 30, 2005 (47 pages, PDF): “To discharge its constitutional duties, Congress depends on information obtained from the executive branch. Domestic and national security information is provided through agency reports and direct communications from department heads, but lawmakers also receive information directly from …
