THIS IS HUGE.....THANKS to Daily Kos - Democratic Underground

Justice Is Comin

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Tue Jan-24-06 07:38 PM
Original message

THIS IS HUGE.....THANKS to Daily Kos

Republican Senator Mike DeWine introduced an amendment to reduce the standard of FISA to reasonable "suspicion" for surveillance being acceptable instead of "probable cause."

James Baker, Bush's top snoop dog at the time responsible for preparing all application to FISA for electronic surveillances said we are doing just fine now, thank you. We are moving quickly and effectively thanks to the laws Congress has already passed in the Patriot act. And it is a great concern that lowering this standard would cause constitutional concerns. "Little to gain, perhaps much to lose.

This was in 2002 LONG AFTER 9-11 . DeWine's amendment was rejected in committee by the BUSH ADMINISTRATION

<CLIP>

The admission that Bush's spying program uses a "reasonable suspicion" standard rather than a "probable cause" standard is explosive and damning. Why? Because the Bush administration knew--indeed, took the position--that a reasonable suspicion standard with respect to non-U.S. citizens was probably unconstitutional. Yet the administration now applies that same unconstitutional standard to United States citizens?

In the summer of 2002--well after Bush's spying program was already secretly implemented- the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence held a hearing on the DeWine amendment. (Hearing Report PDF) What transpired at that hearing proves that the Bush administration (a) knew that wiretaps of United States citizens are, pursuant to the Constitution, always subject to a probable cause standard; and (b) Congress explicitly rejected a lower standard for non-U.S. citizens.

DeWine himself limited his amendment to apply only to non-U.S. citizens, recognizing that "we must be cautious not to endorse an overly permissive use of the surveillance powers of FISA." The Committee heard testimony from the administration's top lawyers, and from top legal scholars in the field of eavesdropping and criminal law.

James Baker was then counsel for intelligence policy at the Department of Justice and head of the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review, which is the office that prepares and presents to the FISA court "all the applications under the FISA Act for electronic surveillance and physical search of foreign powers and their agents." If there was any expert on FISA warrant and applications at the time, it was Baker. He began his testimony by praising the PATRIOT ACT FISA changes, testifying as follows:

In my view, the changes have allowed us to move more quickly and more effectively and to also be more focused in our approach in dealing with the kinds of threats that Mr. Bowman made reference to. So we at the Department are grateful for the changes that Congress made in the statute, because I believe they've been important and have been employed effectively.

READ THIS ENTIRELY............IT'S FABULOUS STUFF !!! ..... http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/1/24/181225/664

Can you feel it ? NO IMPEACHMENT, MY ASS !!! :nopity: :beer: