Monday, December 19, 2005
Spy vs Spy
The point is not just that the president was spying on American citizens.
The president has the right to use the National Security Agency to spy on anyone in the U.S. suspected of being an "agent of foriegn power."
All he has to do is clear it with the secret FISA court, established under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. The FISA court has granted nearly 19,000 warrants since it was established and denied only five.
There's even a loophole if time is of the essence: if it's an emergency, the president can go ahead and spy. He just has to run it by FISA within 72 hours.
So here's the question: Why bypass a court that has only denied 5 of 19,000 warrants in 25 years?
(Sorry I've been off the grid a bit lately. I'll update ya soon.)
The president has the right to use the National Security Agency to spy on anyone in the U.S. suspected of being an "agent of foriegn power."
All he has to do is clear it with the secret FISA court, established under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. The FISA court has granted nearly 19,000 warrants since it was established and denied only five.
There's even a loophole if time is of the essence: if it's an emergency, the president can go ahead and spy. He just has to run it by FISA within 72 hours.
So here's the question: Why bypass a court that has only denied 5 of 19,000 warrants in 25 years?
(Sorry I've been off the grid a bit lately. I'll update ya soon.)
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