Bush agrees to full NSA oversight by Congress

[deminks]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060516/ts_nm/security_nsa_dc_1

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House, in an abrupt reversal, will allow the full Senate and House of Representatives intelligence committees to review President George W. Bush's domestic spying program, congressional officials said on Tuesday.

Two days before the program was expected to dominate Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden's Senate confirmation hearing as CIA director, the Republican chairmen of the Senate and House panels said separately that Bush had agreed to allow full committee oversight of his Terrorist Surveillance Program.

The program, which allows the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on the international phone calls and e-mails of U.S. citizens without first obtaining warrants, has stirred an outcry in Congress among lawmakers who believe Bush may have overstepped his constitutional authority.

It became apparent that in order to have a fully informed confirmation hearing, all members of my committee needed to know the full width and breadth of the president's program," Sen. Pat Roberts (news, bio, voting record) of Kansas, who heads the 15-member Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a statement.

The first full Senate committee briefing was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

(end snip)

What are they hiding?

[babylonsister]

1. Is this before or after he huddled with Specter? Color me

sceptical; this wasn't done out of the kindness of his heart. And I'll just bet this is to distract from the stuff that's really being hidden.
Oh, and will this encompass Tice's testimony tomorrow? :think:

[Robbien]

7. This is Specter's new plan. Legality issue dropped

and anyone who objects to NSA spying cannot take it to court.

[pepperbear]

32. hey, I'm not really in the know...

and the article doesn't explain it...how does the oversight committee stop challenges? :shrug:

[MSgt213]

2. This smells very strange. Is this what Bush is doing or is this bad

or misleading reporting. I guess we will have to wait to find out.

[Robbien]

9. It is misleading reporting. Now all oversight is secret

This is Specter's new plan. The change would allow BushCo to throw up huge obstacles to anyone seeking to challenge the program’s legality.

[MSgt213]

11. So now you have congress complicit in illegal activity in other words

[Robbien]

14. Hey its Sen. Roberts whose first name is complicit

when carrying water for BushCo.

[katinmn]

18. Now we have PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE of congress's complicity

Before it was conjecture.

[The Backlash Cometh]

25. But only for six months or so. Because once we win the Congress,

the first order of business is to tell Bush and Cheney to bend over and cough.

[Canuckistanian]

28. Ah, that's the best explanation I've heard yet

Lots of oversight, but with no penalties if wrongdoing is found in secret.

And anyone challenging legal action will be shut out.

Bravo! It's the perfect crime. Do the deed, admit it, then rig the system to ensure justice is never brought out into open court.

Clinton shoulda thought of this.

[ShortnFiery]

24. Those Democratic Senators best grill Hayden!

I know that I can depend on Leahy but I hope the rest of our lauded democrats have a spine. :grr:

[Botany]

3. Anbody want to get that barn door?

[madrchsod]

4. nothing

they will keep doing this just after they purge everyone involved in the leaks.

[rodeodance]

5. he sure is a flip flopper! damm. wish that label would stick!

[NV Whino]

6. I can hear the shredders

all the way from California.

[sutz12]

8. Did he attach a signing statement?

:sarcasm:

[rodeodance]

10. more

A congressional aide who deals with intelligence matters said the change in policy on NSA oversight would also allow Hayden to speak about the program during the classified segment of his confirmation hearing before Roberts' committee.

The aide also predicted that broader congressional oversight could pave the way for bringing the NSA program under federal law, a proposal that Hayden has signaled his possible support for during private meetings with members of Congress.

Meanwhile, Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said full oversight would eliminate what he called politically driven rumors.

"By briefing the full committee on this program, it is my hope that we can put an end to the politics surrounding this issue and get back to the serious business of protecting our national security," Hoekstra said in a separate statement.

In addition to constitutional concerns, critics say the program violates the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, a 1978 law requiring court warrants for all intelligence-related eavesdropping inside the United States.

[Robbien]

13. Pat Roberts will chair the oversight. Just like he chaired 911 investigati

Behind closed doors with the forgone conclusion being BushCo is doing every thing right.

[gratuitous]

15. With Roberts, "oversight" isn't just an adjective

It's his job! "Why didn't you conduct Phase II, Senator Roberts?" "Oh, that was an oversight." "What about illegal domestic spying, Senator Roberts?" "You know, I had that on my agenda, but I guess it was an oversight that I didn't get it done."

Yeah, watch everything very carefully. "Full" disclosure from this gang of thieves has a very slippery meaning.

[babylonsister]

17. Maybe Roberts will now release the Phase II intelligence info that

sent us to war, too! :eyes: :puke:

[jaysunb]

22. Don't count on it Sis.....

that won't come until we have regained control of Congress.

[rodeodance]

12. Sen. Roberts is the Chair of this committee.

It became apparent that in order to have a fully informed confirmation hearing, all members of my committee needed to know the full width and breadth of the president's program," Sen. Pat Roberts (news, bio, voting record) of Kansas, who heads the 15-member Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a statement.

[Veronica.Franco]

16. Bush must have no choice ... it's all going to come out now ...

Satellite surveillance ... wire tapping ... black mail ... the works ... or he's managed to destroy all the evidence .... dump the computer files and shred like a MAD MAN since Friday ... not probable at all ... this is getting comical ...

[wryter2000]

21. Welcome to DU

:hi:

[Veronica.Franco]

23. Thanks ...

Howdy to you too ...

[Rex]

19. I see the BFEE will kowtow to the Congressional lobbying sponsors.

Repukes will investigate other repukes and then laugh as we are all kept in the dark about the truth. Assholes one and all.

[global1]

20. This Will Be Behind Closed Doors Out of The Eyes And Ears....

of the American people and secret enough so that those that take part in this oversight will not be able to comment on it.

Oh - looks like we handled another scandal. Just swept it under the rug.

[Roy]

26. Exactly!!!!!!

Every word during the hearings will stamped CLASSIFIED' except of course the motion to adjourn.

This way if the Dems don't publically object to the criminality, then, of course it means they agree with eveything that went on. Which, by the way makes it all legal.

But if they do publicly object, they are traitors for leaking classified information.

[HuffleClaw]

27. what a bullshit headline

they are throwing up an orwellian obstacle to CHALLENGING them that is absolutely mind-boggling.

[Judi Lynn]

29. President Backs Off Wiretap Secrecy

President Backs Off Wiretap Secrecy
The White House will brief more members of Congress on the program, a move meant to boost the chances of CIA nominee Hayden.
By Greg Miller and Joseph Menn, Times Staff Writers
May 17, 2006

WASHINGTON — Reversing a position it has held for months, the White House on Tuesday agreed to brief all members of the House and Senate intelligence committees on a controversial domestic wiretapping operation — just as the architect of the program is facing a contentious confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill.

In making the concession, the Bush administration is seeking to improve the prospects of the president's nominee to be the next CIA director, Air Force Gen. Michael V. Hayden, by preempting attacks from lawmakers angry that they have been kept in the dark on domestic spying activities.

Meanwhile Tuesday, Verizon Communications Inc. became the second phone company to deny that it gave customer calling records to the National Security Agency as part of a separate program in which the NSA is accused of assembling records on tens of millions of U.S. citizens. BellSouth Corp. issued a similar statement Monday, leaving only AT&T among the three companies named by USA Today as having granted access to electronic databases.

Ever since news reports revealed last year that President Bush had authorized the NSA to eavesdrop on U.S. residents without court warrants, the White House has insisted it was too risky to reveal details of the program to more than a select group of lawmakers.

The decision to abandon that position came after the White House received warnings from prominent Republican lawmakers, including Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, chairman of the Intelligence Committee, that Hayden would face a hostile hearing if members voting on his confirmation were not trusted with information on the most controversial program he ran.
(snip/...)

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-nsa17may17,1,5423419.story?coll=la-headlines-politics

[951-Riverside]

30. So these dopes in Congress will be briefed IN SECRET....

about a program they already knew about.

...This is not a win not by a long shot. :mad:

[The_Casual_Observer]

31. The substance of the briefing will probably be that no operational

program exists or will exist for years, since they haven't figured out how to do it yet.

[librechik]

33. I get it--this will avoid a judicial decision on the program

they'll just get their lapdogs to sit on it. The Pukkkes own those committees.

[wiggs]

34. Exactly. This still needs to go to SCOTUS for constitutionality ruling nt

[RCinBrooklyn]

35. Allowing "review" and submitting to inquiry are very different.

This is another ploy.

[wordpix]

36. I thought the NSA was already "under federal law," i.e. FISA law

:shrug:

"Politically driven rumors?" :wtf: ??

snip:

The aide also predicted that broader congressional oversight could pave the way for bringing the NSA program under federal law, a proposal that Hayden has signaled his possible support for during private meetings with members of Congress.

Meanwhile, Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said full oversight would eliminate what he called politically driven rumors.

[Supersedeas]

37. What?!? Bush 'agrees' and Bush 'allows': how about Bush concedes to the

rule of law...which requires him to present his program to the full membership of the Intelligence committees and not to cherry pick and bully a select few.

[Zorra]

38. Good, but it's too late. NSA spying is just the tip of the iceberg.

If they are secretly stealing our phone information, it's a lock that they are snooping into other realms where they can illegally gather info on us.