Also see:
AOL/Microsoft-Hotmail Preventing Delivery of Truthout Communications •
Go to Original
Spy Chief Seeks More Eavesdropping Power
By Pamela Hess
The Associated Press
Tuesday 18 September 2007
Washington - No Americans' telephones have been tapped without a court order
since at least February, the top U.S. intelligence official told Congress Tuesday.
But National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell could not say how many Americans'
phone conversations have been overheard because of U.S. wiretaps on foreign
phone lines.
"I don't have the exact number ... considering there are billions of transactions
every day," McConnell told the House Judiciary Committee at a hearing on
the law governing federal surveillance of phone calls and e-mails.
McConnell said he could only speak authoritatively about the seven months since
he became DNI.
In a newspaper interview last month, he said the government had tapped fewer
than 100 Americans' phones and e-mails under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Act, which requires warrants from a secret intelligence court.
McConnell is seeking additional changes to the law, which Congress hastily
modified just before going on vacation in August based in part on the intelligence
chief's warnings of a dire gap in U.S. intelligence.
The new law eased some of the restrictions on government eavesdropping contained
in the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, to let the government more
efficiently intercept foreign communications.
Under the new law, the government can eavesdrop, without a court order, on
communications conducted by a person reasonably believed to be outside the United
States, even if an American is on one end of the conversation - so long as that
American is not the intended focus or target of the surveillance.
Such surveillance was generally prohibited under the original FISA law unless
a court approved it. Bypassing court approval is one of the most controversial
aspects of the new Protect America Act, which will expire in January unless
Congress extends it.
Before McConnell can convince Congress to make the Protect America Act permanent
- and agree to even more changes easing the provisions of FISA - he first
has to allay concerns that the law passed so hastily earlier this year does
not subject Americans to unwarranted government surveillance.
"The right to privacy is too important to be sacrificed in a last-minute
rush before a congressional recess, which is what happened," said Rep.
John Conyers, D-Mich., the panel's chairman.
Democrats worry that the law could be interpreted to open business records,
library files, personal mail, and homes to searches by intelligence and law
enforcement officers without a court order.
Assistant Attorney General Kenneth L. Wainstein said the new surveillance powers
granted by the Protect America Act apply only when the assistance of a communications
company is needed to conduct the surveillance. Therefore, he said, the government
could not use the law to search homes, open mail or collect business records
because no communications provider would be involved in such a transaction.
Many Democrats in Congress are now seeking to narrow what they consider to
be overly broad language by rewriting the law. Wainstein warned that inserting
specific prohibitions on government surveillance to protect civil liberties
could have unintended consequences.
"Anytime you put in limiting language, you've got to make sure it doesn't
have unintended limiting consequences," Wainstein said.
McConnell said that as long as his office can examine every word of the new
language to scrub it for unintended consequences, he would be open to the changes.
However, Bush administration officials say concern about the new powers is
unfounded. They contend the Protect America Act only allows the government to
target foreigners for surveillance without a warrant, a change that was needed
because of changes in communications technology.
Addressing the controversy over the law, the Justice Department and the White
House Tuesday issued a "myth and facts" paper meant to ease the concerns
of civil liberties advocates and privacy groups that believe it gives the government
broader powers than intended.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-NY, chairman of the subcommittee on the Constitution,
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, called the effort a troubling "charm
offensive."
"Let's have some truth in advertising. The act gives the president almost
unfettered power to spy without judicial approval - not only on foreigners but
on Americans," Nadler said.
McConnell said the new eavesdropping powers are needed not just to spy on terrorists
but also to defend against more traditional potential adversaries.
He told the panel that China and Russia are aggressively spying on sensitive
U.S. facilities, intelligence systems and development projects, and that their
efforts are approaching Cold War levels.
McConnell and Wainstein pushed for other changes in the law, including granting
retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies which may have helped the
government conduct surveillance prior to January 2007 without a court order
under the so-called Terrorist Surveillance Program. Wainstein said there are
40 to 50 lawsuits filed against telecommunications companies that are now pending
in U.S. courts.
-------
Jump to today's Truthout Features:
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. t r u t h o u t has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is t r u t h o u t endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
"Go to Original" links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted on TO may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the "Go to Original" links.
Print This Story
E-mail This Story