Republican Who Oversees N.S.A. Calls for Wiretap Inquiry

Even Republicans can't stand Bush's underhanded ways. Rep. Heather A. Wilson of New Mexico is chairwoman of the House Intelligence Subcomittee o n Technical and Tactical Intelligence. Which is evenly filled with Republicans and Democrats.

Eric Lichtblau of the New York Times writes:

[Heather Wilson] said in an interview that she had "serious concerns" about the surveillance program. By withholding information about its operations from many lawmakers, she said, the administration has deepened her apprehension about whom the agency is monitoring and why.

Ms. Wilson, who was a National Security Council aide in the administration of President Bush's father, is the first Republican on either the House's Intelligence Committee or the Senate's to call for a full Congressional investigation into the program, in which the N.S.A. has been eavesdropping without warrants on the international communications of people inside the United States believed to have links with terrorists.

The congresswoman's discomfort with the operation appears to reflect deepening fissures among Republicans over the program's legal basis and political liabilities. Many Republicans have strongly backed President Bush's power to use every tool at his disposal to fight terrorism, but 4 of the 10 Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee voiced concerns about the program at a hearing where Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales testified on Monday.

A growing number of Republicans have called in recent days for Congress to consider amending federal wiretap law to address the constitutional issues raised by the N.S.A. operation.

As heavily as the Bush Administration has said that the wiretaps are legal, even Republicans know he's lying. They're talking about amending the law to make it legal. That sound like a band-aid to you?

Ms. Wilson said in the interview Tuesday that she considered the limited Congressional briefings to be "increasingly untenable" because they left most lawmakers knowing little about the program. She said the House Intelligence Committee needed to conduct a "painstaking" review, including not only classified briefings but also access to internal documents and staff interviews with N.S.A. aides and intelligence officials.

Ms. Wilson, a former Air Force officer who is the only female veteran currently in Congress, has butted up against the administration previously over controversial policy issues, including Medicare and troop strength in Iraq. She said she realized that publicizing her concerns over the surveillance program could harm her relations with the administration. "The president has his duty to do, but I have mine too, and I feel strongly about that," she said.

Asked whether the White House was concerned about support for the program among Republicans, Dana Perino, a presidential spokeswoman, said: "The terrorist surveillance program is critical to the safety and protection of all Americans, and we will continue to work with Congress. The attorney general testified at length yesterday, and he will return to Capitol Hill twice more before the week ends."

This current inquiry will probably end up with nothing gained. No information will come out and there will be no conclusions drawn. Washington Republicans will push to have the issue tabled and sweep it under the rug while they talk louder about Iran as a distraction to the Country before the election.

It's going to be a long year.

The entire article can be found here:
House Republican Who Oversees N.S.A. Calls for Wiretap Inquiry

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