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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: warrantless wiretapping

warrantless wiretapping stories: 66 news summaries

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Supporters Blast Obama on His Own Website

Barackobama.com flooded with protests over FISA flip-flop

Jul 2, 08 10:53 AM CDT
(Newser) - Barack Obama’s abrupt about-face on new FISA legislation that would grant immunity to telcos that aided the Bush administration in warrantless wiretaps has some supporters hopping mad—and they’re using the forums on the candidate's own website to protest, the New York Times reports. During the primaries... More »

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Barack Obama • social networking • FISA • warrantless wiretapping • web portal • compromise • Barack Obama supporters

House Passes Compromise FISA Bill

Most Democrats oppose immunity for telecom companies

Jun 20, 08 3:45 PM CDT
(Newser) - The House today approved a bill updating FISA law and granting qualified immunity to telecom companies that aided the Bush administration in warrantless wiretapping. A majority of Democrats opposed the bill, which passed 293-129. Nancy Pelosi supported the measure despite serious reservations because it refutes the administration's argument about "... More »

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Nancy Pelosi • House of Representatives • FISA • warrantless wiretapping • telecom immunity

ANALYSIS

Telecoms Gain Immunity From Wiretap Suits

'It’s not compromise;
it’s pure theater,'
says one plaintiff.

Jun 20, 08 8:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - Yesterday's Congressional deal on warrantless wiretapping will wipe out some 40 pending lawsuits against phone companies that took part in the Bush administration's eavesdropping scheme, ending 5 months of Democratic resistance to giving the telcos immunity for their actions. In what the New York Times calls to the biggest change... More »

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Bush administration • domestic surveillance • warrantless wiretapping • eavesdropping • wiretapping bill

Surveillance Law Gives Sweden Broad Powers

No warrant needed for cross-border phone, e-traffic; foes outraged

Jun 19, 08 3:52 PM CDT
(Newser) - Sweden's intelligence service will have broad new powers to intercept cross-border calls and emails, without a warrant, under a law passed yesterday, the BBC reports. Critics, meanwhile, say it is impossible to fully distinguish domestic from international traffic without compromising the transmissions. Protesters handed out copies of George Orwell's 1984... More »

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European Union • privacy • Sweden • civil liberties • warrantless wiretapping • domestic wiretapping

'Sweeping' House Deal Would Expand Spy Powers

Long-awaited compromise would offer telecoms immunity 

Jun 19, 08 11:40 AM CDT
(Newser) - House leaders brokered a long-awaited compromise on spy powers today, bringing much of the post-9/11 NSA activities—illegal at the time—under law and granting a qualified immunity to telecom companies that participated in the extra-FISA program, the Wall Street Journal reports. The “most sweeping rewrite” of spy... More »

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Congress • FISA • warrantless wiretapping • domestic spying • telecom immunity

McCain Backs Bush Wiretaps: Adviser

Says candidate believes president has right to 'override' law

Jun 6, 08 6:14 AM CDT
(Newser) - John McCain supports President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program, a top adviser writes in a letter posted on the National Review website. The adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, outlines McCain's belief that the Constitution authorizes the president to override a federal statute that requires court oversight for surveillance. The position marks a sharp... More »

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Bush administration • John McCain • FISA • US Constitution • warrantless wiretapping • National Review • domestic wiretapping

Government's Spy Powers Up, But Terror Arrests Down

Civil-liberty groups squawk; feds say numbers don't tell whole story

May 12, 08 11:15 AM CDT
(Newser) - Big Brother is watching … but hasn’t found much, the Los Angeles Times reports. Despite vastly increased domestic spying activities, terrorism prosecutions have plummeted 50% since 2002; last year alone saw a 19% drop, despite a 9% increase in eavesdropping warrants. The Bush administration, meanwhile, is pushing for even... More »

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War on Terror • terrorism • FBI • domestic surveillance • counterterrorism • FISA • warrantless wiretapping • domestic spying

Congress Prods Justice Dept.
on Secrecy

Dems accuse Mukasey, underlings of stalling on requests

Apr 8, 08 10:38 AM CDT
(Newser) - Congress is redoubling its efforts to get info from the Justice Department, the Washington Post reports. Requests for classified documents have languished for as long as 3 years, and the contretemps between Congress and Alberto Gonzales over their disclosure has improved little under the new AG, Michael Mukasey. "We... More »

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Congress • Alberto Gonzales • Department of Justice • Patrick Leahy • detainee • US attorney firings • Michael Mukasey • warrantless wiretapping

Bush Threw Out 4th Amendment After 9/11

Newly revealed Yoo memo voided search and seizure protections

Apr 4, 08 1:23 PM CDT
(Newser) - Just a month after Sept. 11, 2001, the Justice Department concluded that anti-terror military operations on US soil were not constrained by the Fourth Amendment protections against search and seizure. The conclusion was detailed in a memo written by John Yoo, the theorist behind many of President Bush's expansions of... More »

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War on Terror • torture • Department of Justice • warrantless wiretapping • Fourth Amendment • John Yoo • executive power

OPINION

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

Salon scribe blasts Mukasey claim that law blocked key eavesdrop

Apr 3, 08 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... More »

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September 11 • FISA • Michael Mukasey • 9/11 commission • warrantless wiretapping • Lee Hamilton • Glenn Greenwald • Philip Zelikow

Mukasey Open to Spy Bill Deal

AG calls for 'creative' solution to debate on phone company lawsuits

Mar 21, 08 8:18 PM CDT
(Newser) - The nation's top lawman welcomed a deal today on a stalled federal spy bill, Reuters reports. “If somebody has some brilliantly creative compromise, I'm happy to hear that,” Attorney General Michael Mukasey said. A recent House bill would allow lawsuits against phone companies that gave records to Washington,... More »

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Senate • telecom • FISA • Michael Mukasey • warrantless wiretapping • House Democrats • telecommunications companies

House Rejects Immunity for Telecoms Again

Lawmakers OK surveillance bill, brush off threat of Bush veto

Mar 14, 08 3:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - The House again spurned President Bush today, passing a version of an anti-terrorism surveillance bill that does not grant retroactive immunity to the telecom companies that participated in the government's warrantless-wiretapping program. The vote was 213-197, far less than the two-thirds majority needed to override a promised presidential veto, Reuters... More »

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National Security Agency • FISA • Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act • warrantless wiretapping • immunity • telecommunications companies • George W. Bush

Stalling Spy Bill Hurts Intel, Admin Asserts

Letter pushes House Dems to pass new wiretapping rules

Feb 23, 08 8:45 AM CST
(Newser) - As House Dems refuse to pass the Senate’s wiretapping bill, the administration is heaping more pressure on them to change their minds, reports Muckraker. A letter to the House intelligence committee from top administration officials claims that the failure to pass the bill is causing “lost intelligence information”... More »

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Attorney General • Steny Hoyer • surveillance • Mike McConnell • Michael Mukasey • warrantless wiretapping • House Democrats • Director of National Intelligence • wiretapping bill

Supreme Court Won't Hear Wiretapping Case

Panel dismisses ACLU's legal challenge with one-line order

Feb 19, 08 1:50 PM CST
(Newser) - The Supreme Court has dismissed the ACLU's legal challenge of President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program, reports the Los Angeles Times. The ACLU had said that by issuing a secret order that allowed wiretapping without abiding by a 1978 law, the president was directly disobeying US law. The court today issued... More »

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ACLU • warrantless wiretapping • US Supreme Court • George W. Bush

UPDATED

Senate Yields to White House on Eavesdropping

Agrees to widen powers, give phone companies immunity

Feb 12, 08 6:41 PM CST
(Newser) - The Senate passed a bill today to expand the government's wiretapping powers and to grant immunity to phone companies that aided the government in post-9/11 investigations, the Washington Post reports. That translates into a big victory for the White House, notes the New York Times. The bill now goes to... More »

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Senate • FISA • warrantless wiretapping

FBI Wiretaps Hung Up by
Late Phone Bills

Bureau admits its accounting system
is inadequate

Jan 10, 08 6:53 PM CST
(Newser) - You’re not alone: The FBI apparently has trouble paying its bills on time, too. A Justice Department audit released today shows that, in general, the FBI handled money earmarked for use in undercover operations poorly, and cited instances in which a phone line used to deliver surveillance information to... More »

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FBI • FISA • warrantless wiretapping

OPINION

McGovern: Oust Bush, Cheney

Former Dem. nominee rails against duo's 'high crimes and misdemeanors'

Jan 6, 08 1:07 PM CST
(Newser) - Now is the time to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney, declares former Democratic nominee George McGovern in a passionate, if quixotic, plea in the Washington Post. The duo have committed a plethora of "high crimes and misdemeanors," says McGovern, including illegal wiretapping, systematic torture, and substantial... More »

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Hurricane Katrina • Dick Cheney • torture • Watergate • Bush impeachment • impeachment • Richard Nixon • warrantless wiretapping • George McGovern • Nixon impeachment • domestic wiretapping • Iraq war • George W. Bush

Democrats Withdraw Spy Bill

Delay vote that would give phone companies immunity in spy scandal

Dec 18, 07 3:20 AM CST
(Newser) - Legislation that would have granted retroactive immunity for phone companies that cooperated in the National Security Agency's warrantless surveillance program was abruptly withdrawn by Senate majority leader Harry Reid late yesterday. The legislation, favored by the White House, had deeply divided Democrats. Reid said the Senate would deal with the... More »

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Harry Reid • American Civil Liberties Union • Chris Dodd • FISA • FISA Court • warrantless wiretapping • immunity • telecommunications companies

Court Sides With Bush on Wiretapping

Judges cite national security in rejecting challenge to program

Nov 16, 07 4:57 PM CST
(Newser) - The Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program cleared a big legal hurdle today when a federal appeals court rejected a lawsuit challenging the program on the grounds of national security. The court, considered one of the most liberal in the country,  cited the "state secrets" privilege in its ruling... More »

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Bush administration • national security • domestic surveillance • FISA • US Circuit Court of Appeals • warrantless wiretapping • Al Haramain Islamic Foundation

Congress Torn on Telecom Immunity

Senate panel
sidesteps; House passes bill without it

Nov 16, 07 7:48 AM CST
(Newser) - Congress is conflicted over proposed immunity laws that would retroactively protect telecoms from suits alleging they illegally handed the government information on calls. The Senate Intelligence Committee endorsed immunity 13-2 last month, but the Judiciary Committee left the immunity section out of the document it approved yesterday. The House passed... More »

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Senate • Senate Judiciary Committee • domestic intelligence • Patrick Leahy • domestic surveillance • telecom • Senate Intelligence Committee • warrantless wiretapping

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