Spy Court Won't Release Wiretap Documents

FISA Says Public Has No Right To View Records On Bush's Warrantless Wiretapping Program

(AP)  The nation's spy court said Tuesday that it will not release its documents regarding the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, in a rare on-the-record opinion, said the public has no right to view the documents because they deal with the clandestine workings of national security agencies.

The American Civil Liberties Union asked the court to release the records in August. Specifically, the organization asked for the government's legal briefs and the court's opinions on the wiretapping program.

U.S. District Judge John D. Bates, who sits on the national security court, refused. Releasing the documents would reveal closely guarded secrets that enemies could used to evade detection or disrupt intelligence activities, he said. Sources could be outed, targets could be tipped off and diplomatic relations could be damaged.

"All these possible harms are real and significant and, quite frankly, beyond debate," Bates wrote.

Among the key documents being sought were court orders that allowed the Bush administration to bring the wiretapping program under the court's purview in January. Previously, the Terrorist Surveillance Program allowed investigators to monitor international phone calls and e-mails to or from the U.S. without court oversight.

The White House said in January that it no longer needed the program because the spy court had established standards that satisfied the administration. The ACLU said it wanted to know what those standards are, how they were set up and how they were justified.

The ACLU also wanted to know about a later court ruling that barred the government from eavesdropping on foreign suspects whose messages were being routed through U.S. communications carriers, including Internet sites. That ruling helped President Bush persuade Congress to pass an overhaul of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which governs such wiretapping.

Exactly what the court said, and why, is not publicly known. But Congress agreed to a plan in which the director of national intelligence and the attorney general can approve wiretaps without having to go before the court. The court gets involved whenever a U.S. citizen is the primary target of the surveillance.

"Without access to those judicial rulings, the public has no idea what government's surveillance powers are," ACLU lawyer Jameel Jaffer said. "It shouldn't be a controversial proposition that the public has a right to know what the court believes the scope of FISA is."

Bates acknowledged that the public would benefit from seeing the documents. The decision-making process would be understood, he said, and public oversight could help safeguard against government abuse. But the dangers of releasing such sensitive materials far outweigh that public benefit, Bates said.

Public opinions from the court are so rare, it's not immediately clear what the ACLU's options are. Because Bates alone signed the ruling, the group might be able ask for a review by the full panel. Or, it might be able to challenge the ruling before a federal appeals court.

[ioweign]

Hmmm....What is next though ??
Posted by IOWEIGN

EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE. HAHAHAHAHA!

Posted by mudrose at 01:08 PM : Dec 12, 2007

That will always be there and used ! It will work only in a select set of scenarios.

[mudrose-2009]

Hmmm....What is next though ??
Posted by IOWEIGN

EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE. HAHAHAHAHA!

[gunownerdan]

"Today we need a nation of minute men; citizens who are not only prepared to take up arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as a basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom. The cause of liberty, the cause of American, cannot succeed with any lesser effort."
-- President John F. Kennedy, January 29, 1961

[realpatriot1]

I agree with the court; I think revealing our intelligence methods and agents publically presents a roadmap to our enemies. That''s why Libby and Company should all be strung up and shot.

Congress has signed off on the details of this so checks and balances do exist.

[ioweign]

The totalitarian state is now complete.
Posted by creeper00

Apparently not. Alas. You seem to be exercising your free speech rights right on this very site, now aren''''t ya.


Posted by mudrose at 09:05 AM : Dec 12, 2007

Hmmm....What is next though ??

[jaygshaw]

If you want to cook a frog you place it into a pan of cool water and slowly increase the heat. It will not jump out, rather it will allow itself to be cooked. Are we acting like frogs? I truly worry about the loss of the value of our citizenship.

[neoconrcrazy]

Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable - a most sacred right - a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world.

Abraham Lincoln

[neoconrcrazy]

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.

Abraham Lincoln

[gunownerdan]

The greatest threat to freedom, liberty, and our constitutional rights comes not from other countries or religions, it comes from our own government.

[mudrose-2009]

The totalitarian state is now complete.
Posted by creeper00

Apparently not. Alas. You seem to be exercising your free speech rights right on this very site, now aren''t ya.