CRS Says NSA Wiretaps NOT Grounded In Law

[kpete]

CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE SAYS NSA WIRETAPS NOT GROUNDED IN LAW: DEVELOPING
http://www.rawstory.com/



Congressional Research Service issues a report on domestic surveillance.

you decide: (Last Paragraph seems telling to me)
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/intel/m010506.pdf

[berni_mccoy]

1. K&R... things are REALLY HEATING UP!!!

[Chimichurri]

2. what's next?

This is not grounded in law is that the same as illegal?

I know it's all about semantics but shouldn't the people, who perpetuated the events not grounded in law, be held accountable?

[SpiralHawk]

3. k & r - hope springs eternal that Justice will be done

and our Constitutional rights as citizens of the USA will be safeguarded.

Throw the traitors out of our White House.

[kpete]

4. Nonpartisan arm of Congress says wiretaps likely illegal

Nonpartisan arm of Congress says wiretaps likely illegal
RAW STORY


A 44-page nonpartisan Congressional Research Service report on whether President Bush had the legal authority to impose surveillance on international calls without consulting Congress found that Bush's claim of executive power was not "well grounded" in law, RAW STORY has learned.

The report, issued Thursday, offers the strongest indication to date that secretive National Security Agency spying conducted in the wake of Sept. 11 was illegal. It was prepared by legislative attorneys at the nonpartisan research arm of Congress.

It noted that Congress has had an active role in regulating surveillance, and was unlikely to inherently defer to the executive branch.

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Nonpartisan_arm_of_Congress_says_wiretaps_0106.html

[stop the bleeding]

5. kpete - don't you ever sleep??? Thanks again for the awesome find

this is the 3rd piece of good news today.

[kpete]

6. Someone asked me for "3"

I aim to please..

[Chimichurri]

7. what about this?

“Whether an NSA activity is permissible under the Fourth Amendment and the statutory scheme outlined above is impossible to determine without an understanding of the specific facts involved and the nature of the President’s authorization, which are for the most part classified,” it concluded.


This makes me feel like the 9/11 reports. it's a bit wishy washy.

who can declassify this information? if it's Bush then forget it, there's no hope

[jsamuel]

8. interresting

wonder if congress will take a hold of this one...

[kpete]

9. From the AP

Memo Questions Domestic Monitoring Excuse

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 6, 2006
Filed at 4:38 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A memorandum from two congressional legal analysts concludes that the administration's justification for the monitoring of certain domestic communications may not be as solid as President Bush and his top aides have argued.

The Congressional Research Service, which advises lawmakers on a wide range of matters, said a final determination about the issue is impossible without a deeper understanding of the program and Bush's authorization, ''which are for the most part classified.''

Yet two attorneys in the organization's legislative law division, Elizabeth Bazan and Jennifer Elsea, say the justification that the Justice Department laid out in a Dec. 22 analysis for the House and Senate intelligence committees ''does not seem to be as well-grounded as the tenor of that letter suggests.''

The National Security Agency's activity ''may present an exercise of presidential power at its lowest ebb,'' Bazan and Elsea write in the 44-page memo.



Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., who was among those who requested the research service's memo, said it contradicts Bush's claim that the program was legal.

''It looks like the president's wiretapping was not only illegal, but likely targeted innocent Americans who did nothing more than place a phone call,'' he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Domestic-Spying.html

[Neecy]

10. hmmmmm

Well, I guess those 'I hate big gubmit' Republican types will be glad to see that we effectively have no government left at all - just a dictator who is above the courts and not subjected to congressional oversight. Isn't small government groovy, freepers?

[dutchdemocrat]

11. READ THE DOCUMENTS HERE in HTML

http://www.chris-floyd.com/bush/crs/

The non-partisan Congressional Research Service has released its report on the legality of domestic spying. It's conclusion: "the Administration's legal justification, as presented in the summary analysis from the Office of Legislative Affairs, does not seem to be as well-grounded as the tenor of that letter suggests."

The report, spanning 44 pages, carefully deconstructs each Bush argument. (Download the pdf here). Naturally, because no one has all the details about the program, the CRS reserved absolute conclusions about the legality of the program . While it stretched--and I mean stretched--to find a logical and legal basis in Bush's arguments, but time and time again, the law is not on Bush's side. Watch as each of Bush's rationales are knocked down:

On Bush's argument that FISA doesn't apply when the President exercises his inherent authority:



http://www.chris-floyd.com/bush/crs/