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AG's 'Invented' 9/11 Claim Is Scare Tactic

Salon scribe blasts Mukasey claim that law blocked key eavesdrop

By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 3, 2008 3:35 PM CDT

(Newser) – Michael Mukasey’s recent claim that surveillance laws barred eavesdropping on a crucial pre-9/11 phone call is either an attempt to scare up support for spying or a revelation of massive US failure, Glenn Greenwald writes in Salon. The 9/11 Commission never mentioned the mysterious phone call—and the executive director tells Greenwald he has no idea what the Attorney General is talking about.

Further, Mukasey's claim that the restrictive law kept the government from saving lives is demonstrably false: FISA doesn’t, and never has, required a warrant for tapping foreign targets. Amazingly, Mukasey also appears to have “invented a critical episode” that all but blames civil libertarians for the terrorist attacks, Greenwald concludes, wondering, where’s the outrage?

U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey
U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey   (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
The 9/11 Commission Holds Its Final Hearing
The 9/11 Commission Holds Its Final Hearing   (Getty Images)
Thomas Kean, right, chairman of the commission that studied the September 11 attacks and Lee Hamilton speak at a news conference
Thomas Kean, right, chairman of the commission that studied the September 11 attacks and Lee Hamilton speak at a news conference   (KRT Photos)
Attorney General of United States Michael Mukasey
Attorney General of United States Michael Mukasey   (AP Photo/Filip Horvat)
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