Truthout: ..."White House Tried to Coerce Ashcroft"

[babylonsister]

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051507R.shtml

Former Deputy AG on Wiretaps: "White House Tried to Coerce Ashcroft"
By Jason Leopold and Matt Renner
t r u t h o u t | Report

Tuesday 15 May 2007

The White House operated a domestic surveillance program for several weeks three years ago, overriding objections by senior Justice Department officials who had informed top Bush administration officials that the spy program was illegal, a former deputy attorney general testified Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In March 2004, a standoff between the White House and the Justice Department ensued because James Comey, the department's No. 2 in command, would not authorize a continuation of the warrantless wiretaps, Comey told lawmakers.

"We communicated to the relevant parties at the White House and elsewhere our decision that as acting attorney general I would not certify the program as to its legality, and explained our reasoning in detail, which I will not go into here," Comey testified.

Responding to questions by Senator Chuck Schumer, (D-New York), Comey said Justice Department officials "had concerns as to our ability to certify its legality, which was our obligation for the program to be renewed."

"You thought something was wrong with how it was being operated or administered or overseen?" Schumer asked.

"We had - yes," Comey said.

The surveillance program was secretly authorized by President Bush after 9/11 to monitor communications between alleged terrorist suspects abroad and US citizens without first obtaining approval from a special court designated to authorize such activities under guidelines known as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The program has come under fire by civil liberties groups and Republican and Democratic lawmakers, who said innocent American citizens have been caught up in the wiretaps.

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[napi21]

1. That was pretty earth-shattering testimony today when Comey

described how Gonzo and Card rushed to the hospital where Ashcroft was very sick, suffering from pancreatitis. They were trying to beat Comey to the hosp. to get Ashcroft to sign off on the wire tap program. The very ill Ashcroft got angry, refused to sign it, and told them I'm NOT the AG, "There" is the AG, as he pointed at Comey who had just arrived. Ashcrift then fell back on his pillow, spent of all energy, and Gonzo & Card turned and left the room...completely ignoring Comey in the process.

Every day, more disturbing info comes out about how evil, mean, and rotten this admin really is!

[babylonsister]

2. I know! Unreal how they tried to go around people of principle. I guess

Ashcroft threw them for a loop. And then there's Tony Snow acting like it was no big deal:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=3265502&mesg_id=3265502