NSA Lobbied Bush Admin to Ignore 4th Amendment in Dec. 2000

[kpete]

In Dec. of 2000 the NSA lobbied the Bush administration to ignore 4th Amendment restrictions on its activities. (These were new to me, perhaps some of you have read them, interesting, Kpete)

The National Security Agency
Declassified

Internet wiretapping mixes "protected" and targeted messages,
Info Age requires rethinking 4th Amendment limits and policies,
National Security Agency told Bush administration

"Transition 2001" report released through FOIA,
Highlights collection of declassified NSA documents
Posted on Web by National Security Archive, GWU

National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 24

Edited by Jeffrey Richelson

Originally Posted - January 13, 2000

Updated - March 11, 2005


Washington, D.C., March 11, 2005 - The largest U.S. spy agency warned the incoming Bush administration in its "Transition 2001" report that the Information Age required rethinking the policies and authorities that kept the National Security Agency in compliance with the Constitution's 4th Amendment prohibition on "unreasonable searches and seizures" without warrant and "probable cause," according to an updated briefing book of declassified NSA documents posted today on the World Wide Web.

Wiretapping the Internet inevitably picks up mail and messages by Americans that would be "protected" under legal interpretations of the NSA's mandate in effect since the 1970s, according to the documents that were obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by Dr. Jeffrey Richelson, senior fellow of the National Security Archive at George Washington University.

The NSA told the Bush transition team that the "analog world of point-to-point communications carried along discrete, dedicated voice channels" is being replaced by communications that are "mostly digital, carry billions of bits of data, and contain voice, data and multimedia," and therefore, "senior leadership must understand that today's and tomorrow's mission will demand a powerful, permanent presence on a global telecommunications network that will host the 'protected' communications of Americans as well as targeted communications of adversaries."

Read Declassified Docs here:
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB24/