FISA Judge: Bush Wiretapping Broke No Law

[KaGee]

In a significant vindication for President Bush, a judge who co-authored the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act said Tuesday that the president was duly authorized under the Constitution to order the wiretapping of suspected terrorists - without getting a warrant from the FISA Court. <br />... Testifying along with four other former FISA Court judges, Judge Kornblum suggested that it would have been irresponsible for Bush to have deferred to the FISA Court.

STORY HERE <br /><br /><br />Hmmmmm.... wonder why this little gem has slid under the radar????<br /><br />Hey Senator Feingold.... keep going with the censure movement... it really makes you look good!

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: FISA Judge: Bush Wiretapping Broke No Law

I have said it before and I will say it now, if you have nothing to hide, don't worry about it.<br /><br />Enough of this Big Brother is doing this and that crap, we are talking about persons that want to kill us.

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: FISA Judge: Bush Wiretapping Broke No Law

FYI, Myself and another member have shared emails that I grant you have been flagged because of the wording in them. We don't care cause we are saying nothing in them that is not the truth and Big Brother knows it.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: FISA Judge: Bush Wiretapping Broke No Law

Originally posted by KaGee:<br /> Hmmmmm.... wonder why this little gem has slid under the radar????<br />

No mystery KaGee. It's because it does not fit the Democrat agenda to dethrone the Conservatives. It's as simple as that. No other reason is necessary. It is simply a quest for power and they will toss out anything that they think the half listening and/or gullible public will buy.

 

[QC]

Re: FISA Judge: Bush Wiretapping Broke No Law

No, come on. It's clear that this judge lied.

 

[buffalo sam]

Re: FISA Judge: Bush Wiretapping Broke No Law

Nixon also said it was okay to spy. I would never trust a politicion. Power corrupts.

 

[wvit100]

Re: FISA Judge: Bush Wiretapping Broke No Law

"If a court refuses a FISA application and there is not sufficient time for the president to go to the court of review, the president can under executive order act unilaterally, which he is doing now," said Kornblum<br /><br /><br />Using NewsMax as a source for actual news can get you into trouble. This is an extreme right wing source. What the judge said was that "if a court refuses". From what I have seen there never was a review of the wiretapping policy by any court. You need to look for some other sources for your news.<br /><br /><br />Here's what another organization is saying about the NewsMax story - <br /><br /><br />In a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the secretive court, known as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, several former judges who served on the panel...voiced skepticism at a Senate hearing about the president's constitutional authority to order wiretapping on Americans without a court order. They also suggested that the program could imperil criminal prosecutions that grew out of the wiretaps.<br /> <br />As John noted last night, Lichtblau's story misleads readers regarding the judges' testimony. Here are a few more excerpts of testimony that belie the tenor of Lichtblau's description of the judges' "skepticism" regarding the president's constitutional authority:<br /> <br />Senator Durbin: *** My question is very straightforward. Is there anyone on the panel here who believes that the President did not violate the FISA law with the new wiretap program as he has described it?<br /><br />Judge Keenan. I don't know what the new program is, Senator, and that is the reason--<br /><br />Senator Durbin: If you could lean over a little closer to the mike.<br /><br />Judge Keenan: Sure, I'm sorry. I don't know what the new program is, Senator, and that's why I, in my prepared remarks and in my answers to other questions, I'm not in a position to offer any opinion about that. I am not in a position to offer any comment at all about what the President's doing.<br /><br />Judge Baker -- who observes that he does not think FISA "took away" the president's inherent constitutional authority to order warrantless foreign intelligence surveillance -- is the one judge Lichtblau actually bothers to quote as allegedly expressing skepticism regarding this authority. Did Lichtblau leave the hearing early? <br /><br />In short, I don't think that the judges can fairly be described as having voiced skepticism regarding the president's constitutional authority to order the NSA surveillance program. Having reviewed the transcript of their testimony, however, I am voicing skepticism that Eric Lichtlbau and the New York Times are reporting on matters related to the NSA program in good faith.<br /><br /> http://powerlineblog.com/archives/013588.php

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: FISA Judge: Bush Wiretapping Broke No Law

Yea and while he waits to get before the courts another terriost hijacks another plane and crashes it killing untold number of people.<br />Yea, that sounds like a plan.<br /><br />No thanks, tap mine all they want. If it saves 1 life, it's worth it and anyone that can't see that is from another world, has to be.

 

[KaGee]

Re: FISA Judge: Bush Wiretapping Broke No Law

In fine Liberal tradition.... if ya don't like the message.... trash the messenger. Ya, I believe a blog... written by lawyers... talk about the Fox looking over the Henhouse. <br /><br />Nothing is going to happen out of these hearings other than more pontificating by those who want to do whatever necessary to gain back the majority in the House and Senate.

 

[18rabbit]

Re: FISA Judge: Bush Wiretapping Broke No Law

Originally posted by SBN:<br /> I have said it before and I will say it now, if you have nothing to hide, don't worry about it.<br /><br />Enough of this Big Brother is doing this and that crap, we are talking about persons that want to kill us.

Not always. There is a war protestor that was arrested in Baltimore along with a bunch of other protesters. She was different in that she didn’t accept the judges lecturing at her and just go back home like all of the other protesters; she fought it.<br /><br />At her trial, she was pretty tough on cross examining the chief of police and some of other higher level police admin types. One of those higher level police admin types let it slip that there was a 6-page memo from the Dept of Homeland Security. That memo says in effect that the war protestors are declared enemies of the country and are thus subject to the new wire tap laws and should be subjected to the police’s surveillance and wire taps without the necessity of any court approval. And we know at least that woman was.<br /><br />There you have it. (1) if you speak out against the Shrub admin’s war policy, you are an enemy of this country. (2) Non-violent, non-threatening, non-Muslim, regular old loud mouthed hippies are being illegally spied upon, phones tapped, per Shrub’s new (it depends on what your definition of “is” is) agenda.<br /><br />Exactly what the sandal wearing, hairy arm pit, Michael row your boat ashore, radical lefties said would happen, DID HAPPEN!!!<br /><br />Like you said, SBN, if you have nothing to hide ... The problem with this wire tap crap is that the whole scheme was hidden, and when outted at the 9/11 hearings, we were lied to about it.<br /><br />If all you The-Republicans-Can-Do-No-Wrong conservative types can’t be successful in dislodging your thinking units from your rectal units, yours will be the last generation if Americans.

 

[jimonica]

Re: FISA Judge: Bush Wiretapping Broke No Law

wvt100 caught this right away, but I think it bares repeating.<br /><br /><br />"If a court refuses a FISA application and there is not sufficient time for the president to go to the court of review, the president can under executive order act unilaterally, which he is doing now," said Kornblum <br /><br />"if a court refuses a FISA application", comment assumes there was an application submitted. Bush DID NOT do this. Looks to me like News Max did a little cherry picking in trying to spin for Bush.

 

[Skinnywater]

Re: FISA Judge: Bush Wiretapping Broke No Law

No thanks, tap mine all they want. If it saves 1 life, it's worth it and anyone that can't see that is from another world, has to be.

Yeah, tap his, I'd rather die free.<br />

"The-Republicans-Can-Do-No-Wrong conservative types"...

Whoa there fella. Wire tapping of our citizens by our government is NOT a conservative stance!

 

[alden135]

Re: FISA Judge: Bush Wiretapping Broke No Law

 

[demsvmejm]

Re: FISA Judge: Bush Wiretapping Broke No Law

And here we have it again, the follow-bush-at-all-costs on one side,<br /><br />And the intelligent, stand-up-for-what-our-soldiers-died-for (the constitution and it's protections) in the other corner.<br /><br />And 18R

<br />If all you The-Republicans-Can-Do-No-Wrong conservative types can’t be successful in dislodging your thinking units from your rectal units, yours will be the last generation if Americans.

Couldn't word it better myself.

 

[KRS]

Re: FISA Judge: Bush Wiretapping Broke No Law

If you think that Bush is the only President that has used in-country wire taps, then you are dillusional.<br /><br />As for the "follow-bush-at-all-costs" comment, don't we have the right to think he is doing the right thing? Our populus elected him, and BELIEVE IT OR NOT, there are some of us that think he's doing a good job.<br /><br />I respect your right to disagree, but you can't respect my right to like him.... and you think you're standing up for the constitution? whatever.

 

[Skinnywater]

Re: FISA Judge: Bush Wiretapping Broke No Law

Yea and while he waits to get before the courts another terriost hijacks another plane and crashes it killing untold number of people.<br />Yea, that sounds like a plan.

FISA does not interfere with government spying for national security purposes. Secrecy is protected because the court of federal judges that issues the warrants is secret. The law allows the government to spy first and then come to the court for a warrant. The purpose of the warrant is to be sure that the government is spying for legitimate purposes and not abusing the power to spy on political opponents for unlawful purposes.<br /> http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode50/usc_sup_01_50_10_36.html