In a letter to to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and Attorney General Michael Mukasey, make the usual fearmongering complaints that if the House doesn’t pass the new warrantless eavesdropping bill Bush wants, America Is Defenseless.

When Reyes pointed out that the administration can still carry out warrantless surveillance for 72 hours in emergencies, McConnell and Mukasey wrote: “You imply that the emergency authorization process under FISA is an adequate substitute for the legislative authorities that have elapsed. This assertion reflects a basic misunderstanding about FISA’s emergency authorization provisions. Specifically, you assert that the National Security Agency (NSA) or Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) ‘may begin surveillance immediately’ in an emergency situation. FISA requires far more, and it would be illegal to proceed as you suggest.”

Right. An administration which was conducting warrantless surveillance from 2001 - 2006 in defiance of the law and has repeatedly illegally used “national security letters” to obtain information is now claiming that its respect for the law is tying its hands in fighting the terrorists?

Of course, if this represented a change of heart from the White House, rather than another rationalization for increasing Bush’s powers (because if the government refuses to break the law, Islamofascists could yes, break in and kill us in our sleep!), that would be a welcome thing. But I find myself oddly skeptical. Go figure.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 25th, 2008 at 7:27 am and is filed under Politics, Terrorism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.