Senate panel to investigate wiretapping violations

[ProSense]

Justice Dept. reins in surveillance program

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department has reined in electronic surveillance by the National Security Agency after finding the agency had improperly accessed American phone calls and e-mails.

The problems were discovered during a review of the intelligence activities, the Justice Department said in a statement Wednesday night.

The New York Times, which first reported the matter on its Web site, said the NSA had been improperly intercepting communications by Americans.

In its statement, the Justice Department said it has taken "comprehensive steps to correct the situation and bring the program into compliance."

The Justice Department did not elaborate on what problems it found.

Once corrective measures were taken, Attorney General Eric Holder sought authorization for renewing the surveillance program, officials said.

Government officials have also briefed lawmakers on the issue.

Domestic eavesdropping has been a contentious issue since 2005, when the Times revealed that for years following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the NSA intercepted international phone conversations and e-mails involving U.S. citizens without a warrant.

That program ended in 2007, and the following year Congress passed legislation requiring the NSA to get court approval to monitor the purely domestic communications of Americans who came under suspicion.

Senate panel to investigate wiretapping violations

WASHINGTON – Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein says she will investigate indications of new wiretap violations by the National Security Agency.

The Justice Department confirmed Wednesday that it had reined in the NSA's wiretapping activities in the United States after finding out the agency had improperly accessed American phone calls and e-mails.

Feinstein said the allegations are "serious" and said the Senate Intelligence Committee will hold a hearing within a month.

The Justice Department discovered the problems during a routine review of NSA wiretapping. It says the problems have been corrected.

Domestic eavesdropping has been a contentious issue since 2005, when it was revealed that for years following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the NSA intercepted international phone conversations and e-mails involving U.S. citizens without a warrant.

[Windy]

1. As is obvious... we need to give the new DOJ time to investigate before going balistic! nt

[Adelante]

2. Honestly

:thumbsup:

[lyonn]

3. It's good there are people watching how the NSA is doing their job

This admin. must believe a court order is needed to tap into citizens phone, e-mail, etc.. It's a comforting thought that someone can not just tap into your private convo for personal gain, like an excuse to get info that has nothing to do with intel. My conversations would bore anyone to death, but a reporter - politician, etc., that is a whole different story.

[Frustratedlady]

4. I would still presume that one of the main purposes of domestic spying...

was for the benefit of "Politics by Rove" to give him an edge on the elections and used to control others. Look how Spitzer was caught, although I imagine that was basically thru the NY political machine, but same old/same old control mechanism.

Just sayin'.

[slipslidingaway]

5. ACLU - NSA Spies On Americans Outside The Law (4/16/2009)

Agency Skirts Broad Powers Authorized By Congress

http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/39386prs20090416.html

"WASHINGTON – The National Security Agency (NSA) has been intercepting Americans’ emails and phone calls in recent months to an extent that exceeded even the overbroad limits permitted under the controversial spying legislation passed last summer. According to the New York Times, the NSA’s “overcollection” of American’ communications has been “significant and systemic.”

The FISA Amendments Act of 2008 (FAA) was passed last July despite opposition from the American Civil Liberties Union and other privacy advocates. It effectively legalized the secret warrantless surveillance program President Bush approved in late 2001, but it also gave the government new spying powers, including the power to conduct dragnet surveillance of Americans' international communications. The ACLU filed a federal lawsuit immediately after Congress passed the law challenging its constitutionality. The lawsuit is still pending.

“Congress was repeatedly warned that this type of abuse would be the obvious outcome of passing the FISA Amendments Act,” said Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. “Congressional leadership promised after this law’s passage that it would be reexamined along with the Patriot Act. It’s time to fulfill that promise and restore the checks and balances of our surveillance system. Warrantless surveillance has no place in an America we can be proud of. These revelations make it clear that Congress must now make a commitment to rein in government surveillance.”


...“These revelations are as alarming as they are predictable,” said Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project. “The FAA set virtually no limits on the government’s eavesdropping authority, but it appears that the NSA has disregarded even what minimal limits existed. The new law should have ensured that the government’s surveillance powers would be subject to meaningful judicial oversight. Instead the new law allowed the NSA to operate without the safeguards that the Constitution requires. The Bush administration argued that the law was necessary to protect national security, but in fact the law implicates all kinds of communications that have nothing to do with terrorism or criminal activity of any kind. The law was ill-advised, and today’s report only underscores that the law should be struck down as unconstitutional.”

The ACLU’s lawsuit argues that the FAA violates Americans' rights to free speech and privacy under the First and Fourth Amendments to the Constitution..."

[chill_wind]

6. Dear Ms Feinstein-- remind us again where you stood on key privacy and civil liberties issues?

Feingold (and ACLU): I Told Congress So

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5470624

http://feingold.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=311558

Will the investigation process be shared, or will it be another behind closed doors deal, like her current investigation into CIA Torture allegations?

[uponit7771]

7. K, I'm not so mad at dems for this issue any longer...their not just brushing it under the table.