Has BushCo gone to the FISA court in some cases?

[Peachhead22]

Or has it ignored it totally in all circumstances since 9/11?

If, as I suspect, BushCo has gone through FISA in some cases, but not all, that brings up some interesting avenues for investigation. First of all it blows out of the water the 'Pub talking point "He was just being a cowboy" or "He had the authority as CiC or because of the post 9/11 resolution" or the more general talking point that "He was just pushing the limits of his power". If BushCo thought any of those were true they would have ignored FISA in all cases.

If some stuff went through FISA and some stuff didn't what was difference about the stuff that didn't?

Members of Congress from both partys must see the list of who was bugged and the circumstances. That's where the true scandal lies.

[Ian David]

1. The FISA court approved 100% of his wiretap requests.

<snip>

Electronic Surveillance at an All-Time High. According to a report issued by the Administration Office of the United States Courts, state and federal courts authorized 1,710 interceptions of wire, oral, and electronic communications in 2004, an increase of 19 percent over intercepts approved in 2003 and the greatest number ever authorized in a single year. Federal officials requested 730 intercept applications in 2004, a 26 percent increase over the number requested in 2003. No wiretap applications were denied last year. 2003 and 2004 are the only years that more secret surveillance warrants have been granted than federal wiretap warrants, which are issued only under a more stringent legal standard. (April 29, 2005)

2003 Wiretap Report Released; No Requests Refused. The Administrative Office of the United States Courts has reported that state and federal courts authorized 1,442 interceptions of wire, oral and electronic communications in 2003, an increase of 6 percent over interceptions authorized in 2002. The agency also reported that federal officials requested 578 intercept applications in 2003, a 16 percent increase over those requested in 2002. No wiretap applications were denied last year. Although formal statistics have not yet been released, it is believed that secret foreign intelligence surveillance has increased dramatically during the same period. (April 30, 2004)

More:
http://www.epic.org/privacy/wiretap/

[HereSince1628]

2. Many many times they went to FISA Josh Marshall did a tally

at the end of last week. You can find it a www.talkingpointsmemo.com

[napi21]

3. This makes me think that the ones he did without FISA app.

must have been those he knew he'd never get approval! Political enemies, dissenter groups, anti-war activists.....

I wonder if we'll ever find out?

[MadisonProgressive]

4. Seems pretty obvious to me!

[Ian David]

6. Here's what I think was going on

He wanted to gather information that:

1) Nobody could prove he was looking for
2) Nobody could prove he had
3) Nobody could force him to disclose
4) Nobody could accuse him of not acting upon (because they couldn't prove he had it)

My guess is the "Coalition of the Willing" is actually more like "The Coalition of the Blackmailed."

Some people say.


1) Corporate espionage on behalf of Halliburton and other corporate allies.

2) Covering-up conspiracies to fix pre-war intelligence.

3) He doesn't want national security investigations to interfere with the interests of his corporate patrons-- for example, Halliburton. That way, he can burry evidence that might implicate the Saudi Royal Family, for example.

4) Opposition Research


Pentagon Caught Spying on U.S. Anti-War and Anti-Nuclear Activists
by Democracy Now (reposted) Thursday, Dec. 15, 2005 at 9:38 AM

Newly leaked Pentagon documents have confirmed the military has been monitoring and collecting intelligence on anti-war groups across the country. Peace protests are being described as threats and the military is collecting data on who is attending demonstrations. We speak with William Arkin, the former Army intelligence officer, who obtained the secret Pentagon documents.

Earlier this week NBC News exposed the existence of a secret Pentagon database to track intelligence gathered inside the United States. The database including information on dozens of anti-war protests and rallies particularly actions targeting military recruiting.

The list included: counter-military recruiting meetings held at a Quaker Meeting House in Lake Forth, Florida. Anti-nuclear protests staged in Nebraska on the 50th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki. An anti-war protest organized by military families outside Fort Bragg in North Carolina. And a rally in San Diego to support war resister Pablo Parades. The Pentagon database described all of these events as threats.

The documents obtained by NBC also indicate the Pentagon is now conducting surveillance at protests and possibly monitoring Internet traffic. One Pentagon briefing document stamped "secret" concluded: "e have noted increased communication and encouragement between protest groups using the nternet." The same document indicated the military is tracking who is attending protests in part by keeping records on cars seen at protests.

More:
http://www.indybay.org/news/2005/12/1790594.php



Some people say.

[Ian David]

5. That link's broken

(December 17, 2005 -- 05:30 PM EST // link)

Here are some more details on the record of the FISA Court (the Court established in 1978 by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act).

According to this table compiled from DOJ statistics at the EPIC website, the FISA Court did not reject a single warrant application from its beginning in 1979 through 2002. In 2003 it rejected four applications. In 2004, the number was again zero.

So, in a quarter century, the FISA Court has rejected four government applications for warrants.

Only, it's not quite that simple. Take the four rejected applications from 2003.

About one of those rejections the offficial DOJ report says ...

In one case, the Court issued supplemental orders with respect to its denial, and the Government filed with the Court a motion for reconsideration of its rulings. The Court subsequently vacated its earlier orders and granted in part and denied in part the Government's motion for reconsideration. The Government has not appealed that ruling. In 2004, the Court approved a revised application regarding this target that incorporated modifications consistent with the Court's prior order with respect to the motion for reconsideration.

More:
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/007280.php

[napi21]

7. Here's a little more info.

Democrats on the committee said the panel issued 1,052 subpoenas to probe alleged misconduct by the Clinton administration and the Democratic Party between 1997 and 2002, at a cost of more than $35 million. By contrast, the committee under Davis has issued three subpoenas to the Bush administration, two to the Energy Department over nuclear waste disposal at Yucca Mountain, and one last week to the Defense Department over Katrina documents.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/17/AR2005121700992_pf.html

[kentuck]

8. Excellent point, peachhead...

Why did they feel like they had to go through FISA in some instances but not others? If they thought they were exempt, they would have ignored it in all cases? They have just opened up more questions, in my opinion.

[Vinnie From Indy]

9. Occam's Razor!

The simplest reason for NOT obtaining warrants is because BushCo wanted to use the wire taps to spy on all sorts of NON terror related targets such as peace activists, political rivals and ordinary Americans and they knew the court would have balked.

As sure as the Earth turns, the spying WAS NOT restricted to international communications. The BushCo playbook is well known and when they charged out immediately after this story broke and stressed over and over again that the spying was done ONLY on international commuinications, you can be sure that it wasn't. The proclomation that the spying was solely restricted to international communications is the surest bet that it wasn't.