Originally published February 4 2006
Key Republicans question the legality of Bush's eavesdropping procedures
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Arlen Specter (R-Penn.) all recently spoke to the media about their concerns regarding President Bush's admission that he authorized spying and eavesdropping within the United States without obtaining court approval.
Key Republicans said Sunday that President Bush will have to explain why he ordered secret eavesdropping on U.S. residents without first obtaining court approval, keeping pressure on the White House after Bush's unapologetic admission that he ordered the surveillance to combat terrorism.
Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John McCain of Arizona noted that a 1978 law specified that a special federal court must approve any surveillance of U.S. citizens conducted for intelligence purposes on American soil.
Graham, sounding the most skeptical of Bush's authority, said it was insufficient for Bush to notify top congressional officials of his orders.
"I'm going to challenge the idea that any president, any member of Congress, can collaborate with each other and deal the courts out if the courts are required to be involved," Graham said on CBS' Face the Nation.
Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, stood by his decision to hold hearings about the president's orders to the National Security Agency to monitor, without a court-approved warrant, international phone calls and e-mails originating in the United States.
"There are limits as to what the president can do under the Constitution, especially in a context where you have the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which makes it unlawful to have spies or surveillance or interceptions on citizens in the United States unless there is a court order," Specter said on CNN.
Congressional leaders acknowledged over the weekend that Bush notified the four Republican and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate as well as the four top Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate intelligence committees.
Pelosi said the administration considered the briefings notifications, "not a request for approval."
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