Bush (In 2004): "A Wiretap Requires A Court Order"

[JABBS]

In 2004, President Bush knew what to say about the need for a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court order when seeking to fight the war on terror.

Too bad actions speak louder than words.

I'm not one to toss around the word "liar." On JABBS, I usually say that something is conservative spin, or a half-truth, or that a particular conservative is being misleading.

But even the most ardent Bush supporter has to recognize a lie. Bush lied at least three times last year to his supporters, when he said that a wiretap to "chase down terrorists" requires a FISA court order, knowing that he was skirting this same law.

"For years, law enforcement used so-called roving wiretaps to investigate organized crime. You see, what that meant is if you got a wiretap by court order -- and, by the way, everything you hear about requires court order, requires there to be permission from a FISA court, for example."

-- President Bush, April 19, 2004, remarks on USA Patriot Act

"(T)here are such things as roving wiretaps. Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution."

-- President Bush, April 20, 2004, remarks on the USA Patriot Act

"First of all, any action that takes place by law enforcement requires a court order. In other words, the government can't move on wiretaps or roving wiretaps without getting a court order."

-- President Bush, July 14, 2004, remarks on USA Patriot Act

***

This item first appeared at Journalists Against Bush's B.S.

[PDittie]

1. Damn. Bush lied?

I thought he was a Christian...

[JABBS]

2. You have to remember

The original post was written for a broad political audience. My goal is to get Bush supporters to move off the "you hate Bush" rhetoric and actually look at what the man said.