Domestic spying inquiry restarted at DoJ

[Dems4HowardDean]

Domestic spying inquiry restarted at DoJ
By DEVLIN BARRETT - Associated Press Writer



INVESTIGATION: The Justice Department has reopened an inquiry into the government's warrantless wiretapping program.

HALTED: The investigation was shut down after investigators were denied security clearances. The previous attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, said Bush, not he, refused to grant the clearances.

ACCESS GRANTED: The letter indicates that investigators have received the requested security clearances.

WASHINGTON --The Justice Department has reopened a long-dormant inquiry into the government's warrantless wiretapping program, a major policy shift only days into the tenure of Attorney General Michael Mukasey.

The investigation by the department's Office of Professional Responsibility was shut down last year, after the investigators were denied security clearances. Gonzales told Congress that President Bush, not he, denied the clearances.

"We recently received the necessary security clearances and are now able to proceed with our investigation," H. Marshall Jarrett, counsel for the OPR, wrote to Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y. A copy of the letter, dated Tuesday, was obtained by The Associated Press.

Hinchey and other Democrats have long sought an investigation into the spying program to see if it complies with the law. Efforts to investigate the program have been rebuffed by the Bush administration More.....

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/616/story/249066.html

[MasonJar]

1. Don't you just love it when the Bush government investigates itself?