Former Deputy Says Bush Administration Pushed Illegal Wiretaps On Ashcroft

Did White House OK a spy program three years ago which the Justice Department  declared illegal?Former Deputy Says Bush Administration Pushed Illegal Wiretaps On AshcroftBy Cliff Montgomery – May 15th, 2007The Bush Administration briefly implemented a classified program three years ago which the Justice Department declared to be illegal, overriding the findings and wishes of department heads, Ashcroft’s former deputy told a Senate committee today.Two administration officials also tried and failed in 2004 to obtain a needed Justice Department go-ahead on the program during a visit to the hospital bedside of a very ill attorney general John Ashcroft, even though Ashcroft was not acting attorney general at the time due to his illness, testified the former deputy.Former deputy attorney general James Comey testified under oath that Alberto Gonzales and Andrew Card Jr.–at that time George W. Bush’s White House counsel and chief of staff respectively–visited Ashcroft as he lay in intensive care at George Washington University Hospital on March 10th, 2004 in the hope of doing “an end run” around Comey, who was acting attorney general during Ashcroft’s illness.Their plan, testified Comey, was to obtain re-certification of the illegal program, which for unspecified reasons Comey had refused to continue. A presidential directive at the time specified that the legality of the spy program was to be verified by the Justice Department every 45 days.The day after the March 2004 incident at Ashcroft’s bedside, George Bush ordered changes to the program which lessened the department’s concerns. Returning to his job, Ashcroft re-certified the program about three weeks later.Comey refused to identify the program to lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee, but panel members indicated at today’s hearing that it was the National Security Agency’s questionable warrantless spying assignment that the Bush Administration euphemistically called the “terrorist surveillance program.”It was a euphemism because the Bush Administration had no idea if the American citizens, visitors and foreigners upon whom they were spying had any ties to terrorists or terrorism whatsoever.Authorized by George W. Bush, the secret program allowed the White House to monitor the communications of anyone–citizen or foreigner–the highly ideological administration deemed “suspicious”, without the slowness of proving just cause and obtaining warrants from a special court working under the conditions set forth in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.Many have pointed out that this is a direct violation of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which recognizes American citizens’ natural right to be protected from “unreasonable search and seizure.” The controversial–and illegal–program was discovered by the press in late 2005.Gonzales, whom Bush appointed as attorney general in February 2005 after Ashcroft stepped down, informed the Senate in January of this year that President Bush would no longer re-authorize the program, but would again adhere to American law and work to obtain a warrant for electronic surveillance from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.In today’s testimony, Comey for the first time publicly described the tense battles which occurred in 2004 between White House officials and the Justice Department over the illegal program. According to the former deputy’s testimony, the Justice Department won the day only after George W. Bush was forced to confront the certain prospect of mass resignations from top officials, including Ashcroft and Comey.”I couldn’t stay, if the administration was going to engage in conduct that the Department of Justice had said had no legal basis,” Comey said.Comey added that he had indeed been angered by Gonzales and Card’s visit to Ashcroft’s hospital bed after Comey, then acting attorney general, had refused to re-certify the dubious program for reasons he declined to publicly explain.”I was very upset,” Comey said. “I was angry. I thought I just witnessed an effort to take advantage of a very sick man, who did not have the powers of the attorney general because they had been transferred to me,” he testified to lawmakers.Whether it was intentional or not, Comey’s testimony seemed to add fuel to primarily Democratic calls for Gonzales’ resignation. The current attorney general is under fire for his controversial firing last year of nine U.S. attorneys, who were dismissed because of a perceived lack of personal loyalty to the president and the attorney general.”The story [of the illegal wiretaps] is a shocking one. It makes you almost gulp,” said Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY). Such an action shows that Gonzales holds American law “in minimum low regard,” Schumer said.”It’s hard to understand after hearing this story how Attorney General Gonzales could remain as attorney general,” he added.At today’s hearing, Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) was the only Republican decent enough to show up and listen to such an important testimony. It is interesting to note that Sen. Specter joined Democrats in saying that Comey’s testimony raises grave questions about the man now running the Justice Department, and added that Gonzales should step down.Perhaps if more Republicans attended these testimonies, they’d feel the same way.