Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
October 26, 2007 By Scott Shane
WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 — The White House on Thursday offered to share secret documents on the National Security Agency’s domestic surveillance program with the Senate Judiciary Committee, a step toward possible compromise on eavesdropping legislation.
Fred F. Fielding, the White House counsel, offered to show the documents to Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, the committee’s chairman; Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the ranking Republican on the committee; and staff members with the necessary security clearances, said Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman.
Mr. Fratto said that if Mr. Leahy and Mr. Specter so wished, other committee members would be granted clearances for the N.S.A. program and permitted to see the documents. A spokeswoman for Mr. Leahy, Erica Chabot, said he would make sure the entire committee had access.
Only Senate Intelligence Committee members and their staffs have seen the documents. Last week, the committee approved a bill that would step up court oversight of N.S.A. eavesdropping while granting legal immunity to telecommunications companies. The companies face class-action lawsuits for giving the agency access to customers’ phone calls and e-mail messages.
On Tuesday, Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, the West Virginia Democrat who is the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, urged the White House to allow all Congressional committees with oversight responsibilities access to the N.S.A. documents.
Neither the House Intelligence Committee nor the House Judiciary Committee has been shown the documents. Mr. Fratto noted that a bill pending in the House contained no provision for immunity from lawsuits and suggested that unless that changed, the House committees would not see the documents.
“If the committees say they have no interest in legislating on the issue of liability protection, we have no reason to accommodate them,” he said.
Mr. Fratto said the administration was generally pleased with the Senate bill, though it opposes its six-year sunset provision and is seeking changes in the language of a provision that would require court warrants for eavesdropping on Americans traveling overseas. “Over all, it’s a pretty good start,” he said.
The security agency’s program to eavesdrop without warrants on international communications of Americans and others in the United States suspected of links to Al Qaeda started with extraordinary secrecy after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Congress has fought for more information on the program for several years.
The documents at issue include orders signed by President Bush every 45 days to reauthorize the surveillance and legal opinions prepared by the Justice Department to justify the program.
Two Democratic members of the Intelligence Committee, Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, voted against the Senate bill in committee. Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, has vowed to fight any legislation that grants immunity to the telecommunications companies.
October 26, 2007 By Scott Shane
WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 — The White House on Thursday offered to share secret documents on the National Security Agency’s domestic surveillance program with the Senate Judiciary Committee, a step toward possible compromise on eavesdropping legislation.
Fred F. Fielding, the White House counsel, offered to show the documents to Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, the committee’s chairman; Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the ranking Republican on the committee; and staff members with the necessary security clearances, said Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman.
Mr. Fratto said that if Mr. Leahy and Mr. Specter so wished, other committee members would be granted clearances for the N.S.A. program and permitted to see the documents. A spokeswoman for Mr. Leahy, Erica Chabot, said he would make sure the entire committee had access.
Only Senate Intelligence Committee members and their staffs have seen the documents. Last week, the committee approved a bill that would step up court oversight of N.S.A. eavesdropping while granting legal immunity to telecommunications companies. The companies face class-action lawsuits for giving the agency access to customers’ phone calls and e-mail messages.
On Tuesday, Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, the West Virginia Democrat who is the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, urged the White House to allow all Congressional committees with oversight responsibilities access to the N.S.A. documents.
Neither the House Intelligence Committee nor the House Judiciary Committee has been shown the documents. Mr. Fratto noted that a bill pending in the House contained no provision for immunity from lawsuits and suggested that unless that changed, the House committees would not see the documents.
“If the committees say they have no interest in legislating on the issue of liability protection, we have no reason to accommodate them,” he said.
Mr. Fratto said the administration was generally pleased with the Senate bill, though it opposes its six-year sunset provision and is seeking changes in the language of a provision that would require court warrants for eavesdropping on Americans traveling overseas. “Over all, it’s a pretty good start,” he said.
The security agency’s program to eavesdrop without warrants on international communications of Americans and others in the United States suspected of links to Al Qaeda started with extraordinary secrecy after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Congress has fought for more information on the program for several years.
The documents at issue include orders signed by President Bush every 45 days to reauthorize the surveillance and legal opinions prepared by the Justice Department to justify the program.
Two Democratic members of the Intelligence Committee, Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, voted against the Senate bill in committee. Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, has vowed to fight any legislation that grants immunity to the telecommunications companies.