'Inappropriate' Secrecy Hurt Surveillance Effort, Report Says

[cal04]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/10/AR2009071002536.html?hpid=topnews

"Extraordinary and inappropriate" secrecy about a warrantless eavesdropping program undermined its effectiveness as a terrorism-fighting tool, government watchdogs have concluded in the first examination of one of the most contentious episodes of the Bush administration.

A report by inspectors general from five intelligence agencies said the administration's tight control over who learned of the program also contributed to flawed legal arguments that nearly prompted mass resignations in the Justice Department five years ago.

For the first few years of the program's operation, only three Justice Department lawyers were aware of the highly classified initiative, and intelligence analysts whose "scary memos" helped certify the program initially were kept in the dark by supervisors who sometimes ordered up more data to prepare a "compelling case," the watchdog report said.

The program, launched under President George W. Bush, involved electronic surveillance, including the interception without court approval of e-mail linked to people with suspected ties to al-Qaeda. The White House tightly restricted knowledge of the effort, and after the New York Times disclosed its existence in December 2005, the program became a symbol of the Bush administration's expansive view of executive authority, especially regarding national security.

(snip)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said: "The legal analysis under which the program operated for years 'entailed ignoring an act of Congress, and doing so without full congressional notification.' No president should be able to operate outside the law."

[mmonk]

1. Funny, yet sad, that the Speaker who took impeachment off the table

should use the quote "No president should be able to operate outside the law." This is especially true since she once said if the President was doing anything wrong or illegal, they should let her know and millions of us did.

[noise]

3. I saw Pelosi interviewed by Rachel Maddow

Pelosi said the oversight laws need to be changed. One wonders why she is just now realizing this.

Why is it acceptable for the Speaker of the House to portray herself as a victim? One would think she owed the public a better effort. Is she truly not ashamed of her weak effort to reign in a clearly criminal administration?

[smokey nj]

2. Kick!