Bush says: Eavesdropping Helps Save U.S. Lives

In what I thought was a suprising move for the ultra-secret GOP Administration, President Bush gave an address from the Roosevelt Room of the White House where he admitted to the eavesdropping charges.

I heard some of his address and I have to say, as shocked as I was to hear him say it, I was not suprised by his claims of it being legal.

Jenifer Loven of the Associated Press writes:

Facing angry criticism and challenges to his authority in Congress, President Bush on Saturday unapologetically defended his administration's right to conduct secret post-Sept. 11 spying in the U.S. as "critical to saving American lives."

One Democrat said Bush was acting more like a king than a democratically elected leader.

Bush's willingness to publicly acknowledge some of the government's most classified activities was a stunning development for a president known to dislike disclosure of even the most mundane inner workings of his White House.

I want to get one thing straight here. It is against the law: Federal law, FCC regulations and Constitutional law for him to do this. It was put into the Constitution that only Congress can give the President such a power. FCC regulations state that wiretapping requires a judically approved warrant.

In 1978 Congress enacted the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) which makes such wiretapping illegal.

Here is a fact sheet on wiretapping from Raw Story:

Fact Sheet on Domestic Intelligence Wiretaps December 17, 2005

• The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was enacted in 1978 to provide a statutory framework for eavesdropping on individuals within the United States, including U.S. citizens, who are not suspected of having committed a crime but who are likely to be spies or members of terrorist organizations.

• FISA established a secret court that could issue wiretap orders if the government showed probable cause that the individual to be tapped is an "agent of a foreign power",” meaning he or she is affiliated with a foreign government or terrorist organization. This is an easier standard to meet than the criminal wiretap standard, which requires that there be: (1) probable cause that the individual to be tapped has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime, and (2) probable cause that communications concerning that crime will be obtained through the electronic surveillance.

• In the 27 years since it was established, the FISA court has turned down only a handful of applications for wiretap orders. The number of approved FISA wiretap orders has jumped since September 11, 2001, with 1,754 FISA orders issued last year, up from 934 such orders in 2001.

• FISA already addresses emergency situations where there is not time to get pre-approval from the court. It includes an emergency exception that permits government agents to install a wiretap and start monitoring phone and email conversations immediately, as long as they then go to the FISA court and get a court order within 72 hours.

• FISA makes it a crime, punishable by up to five years in prison, to conduct electronic surveillance except as provided for by statute. The only defense is for law government agents engaged in official duties conducting “surveillance authorized by and conducted pursuant to a search warrant or court order.” [50 U.S.C. § 1809]

• Congress has specifically stated, in statute, that the criminal wiretap statute and FISA “shall be the exclusive means by which electronic surveillance . . . and the interception of domestic wire, oral, and electronic communications may be conducted. [18 U.S.C. § 2518(f)]

• The target of a FISA wiretap is never given notice that he or she was subject to surveillance, unless the evidence obtained through the electronic surveillance is ultimately used against the target in a criminal trial.

I bolded the point that wiretapping is illegal without a warrant. It is clear that Bush violated the law and violates the law every 45 days when he renews it.

The program is reviewed every 45 days, using fresh threat assessments, legal reviews, and information from previous activities under the program, the president said. Intelligence officials involved in the monitoring receive extensive training to make sure civil liberties are not violated, he said.

This is an unbelievalbe violation of Civil Liberties, U.S. law and the Constitution. It's worse than Watergate. Contact your Representatives tell them we will not stand for such gross violations of the law and the Constitution.

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The AP story is here on ABC:
ABC News: Bush: Eavesdropping Helps Save U.S. Lives

The Raw Story article is here:
Democratic senator says Bush violated law with wiretaps: He is a president, not a king