Warrantless Wiretaps

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 Obama pledged to oppose the legislation, but now supports a compromise version. More »

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 "inherent authority," the Washington Post reports. More »

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 to surveillance law in 30 years, telecoms will receive protection from lawsuits so long as a court determines that the government asked them to allow the tap. More »

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 outside parliament, the AP notes. More »

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 law in 30 years, the deal would allow some wiretapping of citizens without a warrant, and expand the power to eavesdrop on transnational communication. More »

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 contrast to earlier statements by McCain on the issue, the New York Times points out in drawing attention to the letter. More »

The Al-Haramain foundation was wiretapped, raided, closed down, and had its accounts frozen 4 years ago for allegedly funding terrorists. The Ashland, Ore. group's leaders landed in legal and financial jeopardy, but to this day have not seen the evidence against them. Salon dissects the case as an example of Washington's Kafkaesque domestic spying program. More »

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 greater surveillance powers, and says the decrease in prosecutions doesn’t mean much. More »

Congressional Democrats are questioning the cozy relationship between the FBI and telecom companies, the Washington Post reports. Thanks to a 1994 law, all telecom firms have “Quantico circuits”—little-known electronic lines straight to the FBI technology office in Virginia. Telecom technicians can instantly send data over those lines, telling investigators who’s calling whom and from where. More »

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 agree that there is always room for improvement in our effort to be responsive to Congress," said a DoJ spokesman. More »

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. More »

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, but Bush has vowed to veto it. More »

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 reports, and followed an unusual secret session convened last night. More »

The House held its first secret session in 25 years last night to debate a revamped spy bill, Reuters reports. Republicans said they needed the secrecy to give examples of how proposed changes to surveillance laws could endanger national security. The Democrats consented—but some skeptics suspected it was a ploy by Republican lawmakers to delay a vote on the bill. The measure rebuffs demands from President Bush to provide lawsuit immunity to phone companies that participated in his controversial wiretapping program. More »

Traditionally charged with foreign surveillance, the NSA has increasingly been analyzing data collected domestically, reports the Wall Street Journal —on a scale comparable to that of a Pentagon proposal Congress killed 5 years ago . "When it got taken apart, it didn't get thrown away," says a former government insider. The NSA can track email, Internet searches, calls, banking, and travel info, all without warrants. More »

US spy agencies are continuing wiretap surveillance despite the fact that a law re-authorizing the administration's controversial program failed to pass a divided legislature last weekend. Telecommunications companies are cooperating with the government despite concerns, Reuters reports. Wiretaps will resume under the current law "at least for now," according to a joint statement yesterday by the Justice Department and Office of National Intelligence. More »

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” as private companies fear the consequences of continued warrantless cooperation. More »

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 a one-line order declining to hear the suit. More »

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 the House, which rejected immunity, for negotiations. More »

In his final State of the Union speech, an upbeat President Bush plugged his $150 billion stimulus plan today and urged lawmakers not to "load up the bill," CNN reports. He also advised cutting $18 billion in "bloated" programs, promised to veto pork-barrel funding, and asked policymakers to make tax cuts permanent—all to boost an economy that will return to health "in the long run." More »