warrantless wiretapping

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Justice Dept. Will Investigate Whether Gonzales Lied

US attorney firings probe will expand

(Newser) - The Justice Department will investigate whether Alberto Gonzales gave misleading testimony to Congress, including whether he lied about the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program and the US attorney firings. Inspector General Glenn Fine has alerted Congress to an expanded internal probe into the actions of the lame-luck AG, the Washington Post ...

Alberto Gonzales Resigns
Alberto Gonzales Resigns

Alberto Gonzales Resigns

Attorney general steps down after months of criticism over politicized Justice Department

(Newser) - Alberto Gonzales has resigned, the White House told CNN today, after months of calls for his replacement—and even impeachment—from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle worried that the Justice Department was becoming overly politicized. The AG told President Bush of his intention to step down Friday, following...

Cheney Admits He Has Secret Wiretap Documents

But he'll resist Senate subpoena to see them

(Newser) - Vice President Dick Cheney will resist efforts by Congress to force him to produce dozens of documents relating to a warrantless wiretapping program conducted by the National Security Agency, the Washington Post reports. Cheney's counsel acknowledged for the first time yesterday that the vice president's office has documents relating to...

Dems Afraid They've Let in Big Brother

New law could give White House broad spying powers

(Newser) - Americans who phone friends or shoot emails overseas could have business records snatched up or be subject to searches whenever Washington wants, the Dems worry – after passing new surveillance powers that they may not have fully understood. Yet the White House swears that “the intent here was pure,...

FBI Chief Refutes Gonzales
FBI Chief Refutes Gonzales

FBI Chief Refutes Gonzales

Mueller's notes call hospitalized Ashcroft 'barely articulate'

(Newser) - Newly released notes taken by the FBI director in 2004 contradict Alberto Gonzales' Senate testimony about the internal conflict over the warrantless wiretapping program. Robert Mueller's heavily redacted notes refer to hospitalized AG John Ashcroft as "feeble" and "barely articulate," the Washington Post reports—a far cry...

Spy Suit Keeps Lawyer in Dark
Spy Suit Keeps Lawyer in Dark

Spy Suit Keeps Lawyer in Dark

Government's secrecy guidelines create obstacle course

(Newser) - An attorney for an Islamic charity that's suing the government over  what they claim was illegal wiretapping has found himself in quite the Kafka-esque predicament. Responding to a federal filing that he wasn't allowed to read, John Eisenberg says he was made  to write out his entire legal brief in...

Congress Spooked Into Passing Broad Spying Law

How a weak president scored a surprising win

(Newser) - It was a closed-door briefing last month, in which lawmakers were told of a stunning drop in intelligence, that suddenly broke the Democratic opposition to a new spying bill passed last week, the New York Times reports. The Times does a post mortem on the 11th hour passage of the...

Senate OKs Spying Program
Senate OKs Spying Program

Senate OKs Spying Program

Dems bow to White House on warrantless wiretapping bill, will revisit in 6 months

(Newser) - The Senate voted last night to temporarily extend the government's controversial surveillance program, the Washington Post reports. The contentious 60-28 vote, a  concession to the White House by Democrats, will allow for the continued interception of electronic communication between Americans and overseas parties without  a court order. The measures will...

Rove Won't Testify, Citing Privilege

Counsel orders adviser to keep mum; Gonzales stands pat on testimony

(Newser) - The White House has ordered Karl Rove to keep quiet—despite a subpoena by congressional Dems probing the US Attorney firings. In a political fait accompli, counsel Fred Fielding told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the adviser is "immune from compelled congressional testimony" about White House machinations.

DNI Exposes Broader Spying
DNI Exposes Broader Spying

DNI Exposes Broader Spying

Gonzales still under fire for perjury

(Newser) - The executive branch has had more authority to spy on citizens than yet reported, the Washington Post revealed today. Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell explained yesterday that the controversial NSA warrantless wiretapping and data mining program was only one element in a broader series of secret surveillance activities issued...

Intel Memo Contradicts Gonzales
Intel Memo Contradicts Gonzales

Intel Memo Contradicts Gonzales

Senator threatens perjury probe over conflicting accounts

(Newser) - Alberto Gonzales' Senate testimony this week is at odds with a year-old intelligence document, and the discrepancy may earn the AG in a congressional perjury investigation. At issue is a 2004 White House briefing, which Gonzales has repeatedly testified did not concern the warrantless wiretapping program; a memo from the...

AG Refutes Account of Hospital Visit

Senators assail Gonzales in acrimonious oversight hearing

(Newser) - Alberto Gonzales today refuted an ex-colleague's dramatic testimony about a 2004 visit to John Ashcroft's hospital bed, but the Senate Judiciary Committee wasn't buying it. Patrick Leahy and Arlen Specter were openly skeptical of the AG's account of the scene in John Ashcroft's room, and Specter raised the possibility of...

Appeals Court Won't Rule on Domestic Spying

Panel KOs warrantless wiretapping case on procedural grounds

(Newser) - Although it raises a "cascade of serious questions," a federal appeals court will not hear a case about the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program because the plaintiffs can't prove they've suffered direct harm. In a 2-1 decision, the Sixth Circuit court dismissed the case, brought by the ACLU and...

Domestic Spying Probe Reaches West Wing

Frustrated Senate committee doles out subpoenas

(Newser) - Patrick Leahy came out swinging against the Bush administration's "sweeping assertions of secrecy and privilege" today, issuing subpoenas to the White House, Dick Cheney's office, the Justice Department, and the NSC. The documents demanded by the Senate Judiciary Committee relate to the warrantless wiretapping of terrorism suspects and the...

Legal Battle Looms Over Domestic Spy Documents

Senate subpoenas; White House balks

(Newser) - A showdown on the White House's warantless wiretapping program looms after the Senate Judiciary Committee authorized subpoenas for documents on the progam, and the administration said it had no plans to comply, claiming the material is classified and off limits. The president may invoke executive privilege to prevent the documents'...

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