Attorney General Queried On Spy Program

Senators demanded details Thursday from Attorney General Alberto Gonzales about new orders putting the U.S. government's domestic spying program under court review — and questioned why it took so long to do so.

Meanwhile, the presiding judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court said she had no objection to disclosing legal orders and opinions about the program that targets people linked to al Qaeda, but the Bush administration would have to approve release of the information.

Gonzales and National Intelligence Director John Negroponte said it was uncertain whether the court orders and details about the program will be disclosed.

Negroponte, testifying before the House Intelligence Committee, said there may be separation of powers issues involved in turning over information to Congress about the program.

At issue is how the secret panel of judges will consider evidence when approving government requests to monitor suspected al Qaeda agents' phone calls and e-mails between the United States and other countries.

Until last week, the National Security Agency conducted the surveillance without a court warrant. But the Justice Department announced Wednesday that the FISA court, as it is known, began overseeing the program with a Jan. 10 order.

Gonzales, testifying Thursday front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he may not be able to release details of the order.

"Are you saying that you might object to the court giving us a decision that you publicly announced?" asked committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. "Are we Alice in Wonderland here?"

Responding, Gonzales said it was "not my decision to make."

"There is going to be information about operational details about how we're doing this that we want to keep confidential," he said.

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., questioned whether the orders give the FISA court a programmatic or blanket authority to approve all wiretapping requests. Although Justice Department attorneys have assured him that that is not the case, Specter said that "we need to know more on the oversight process."

He also needled Gonzales on why the spying program was only last week put under judicial review after the Bush administration acknowledged its existence, amid a public outcry of criticism, a little over a year ago.

"It is little hard to see why it took so long," said Specter, noting that Republicans lost control of Congress elections last fall that were widely seen as a repudiation of administration policy. "The heavy criticism the president took on the program was very harmful in the political process, and for the reputation of the country," Specter said.

Bush secretly authorized the program shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and vigorously defended it as essential to national security after it was revealed in December 2005. Bush will not reauthorize the program once it expires, officials said.

The FISA court already has approved at least one warrant to conduct surveillance involving a person suspected of having ties to al Qaeda or an associated terror group.