Hatch Says Court Briefed on Surveillance (Bush says not being done)

[ProSense]

Both are lying, and it's still illegal!

Hatch Says Court Briefed on Surveillance

By KATHERINE SHRADER, Associated Press Writer
9 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Two judges on the secretive court that approves warrants for intelligence surveillance were told of the broad monitoring programs that have raised recent controversy, a Republican senator said Tuesday, connecting a court to knowledge of the collecting of millions of phone records for the first time.

President Bush, meanwhile, insisted the government does not listen in on domestic telephone conversations among ordinary Americans. But he declined to specifically discuss the compiling of phone records, or whether that would amount to an invasion of privacy.

Snip...

Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said that at least two of the chief judges on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court had been informed since 2001 of White House-approved National Security Agency monitoring operations.

"None raised any objections, as far as I know," said Hatch, a member of a special Intelligence Committee panel appointed to oversee the NSA's work.

more...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060517/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_phone_records

[wtmusic]

1. D'oh!

Orrin's fax machine jammed this morning....

[mod mom]

2. "None raised any objections, as far as I know,": didn't a FISA judge

resign in protest?

[kestrel91316]

3. Well.................that would make him/her a FORMER FISA judge, right,

so it DOESN'T COUNT. All that matters, silly, is that none of the ones still sitting have objected (them being dedicated fascists and all).

Run along, now...........

[mod mom]

7. not to mention the judges are chosen by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

which means Rehniquist.

[fooj]

4. Yes. One did.

Besides...WTF? The court was "INFORMED"? INFORMED?:grr:

[magellan]

5. The court was informed as a courtesy

And remember, two out of eleven is a majority in the Bush** regime.

[life_long_dem]

6. If you believe anything Whorrin Snatch says, then

you would believe anything ** says. Because they are in a "69" mentality.
If that makes any sense....

[Norquist Nemesis]

8. Since when did Hatch become one of the Gang of Four?

First, it was the Gang of 4 who were briefed. Then it was "appropriate members of Congress" (who, oddly enough, were not defined). FISA Judges were in there somewhere...supposedly.

The thing is (and this is very important): What Bush etal and the Cons say has to be looked at specifically to know exactly what is being briefed. Interpretations will change what they are saying. In other words, when Bush etal talks about "The Terrorist Surveillance Program" and briefings...that is very specific. They are not briefing about any other activities.

So, unless the Democrats (and maybe, hopefully some Cons also) ask some very specific and pointed questions about collecting the intel, they are not going to get the answers. A question such as: Did the NSA perform any type of electronic surveillance on reporters and/or persons affiliated with Republican opponents' campaigns between November 2001 leading up to and including the 2004 election? Has the NSA performed electronic surveillance on communications in which both parties were within the US but at least one of those communications was routed through a foreign country?

They are going to have to stop allowing the administration to define all activities as one little extraction of the total program.