A Jan. 18 article incorrectly said that the order placing the government¿s domestic spying program under the review of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court was signed by one of that court¿s rotating judges who was handling its cases the week of Jan. 10. That judge did not sign the order. It is unclear which judge did.
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Court Will Oversee Wiretap Program
Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, said the decision was "confirmation that the administration's go-it-alone approach, effectively excluding Congress and the courts and operating outside the law, was unnecessary."
Rockefeller, who had secretly lodged an early challenge to the NSA program in a confidential letter to Vice President Cheney, said the committee still intends to investigate the program's legality and effectiveness.
Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-N.M.), a member of the House intelligence panel, also referred to the new approach as "programmatic approval" and said it "does not have the protections for civil liberties" in FISA or in a bill she introduced last year.
In his letter to lawmakers, Gonzales said that the administration has been exploring ways to seek approval from the surveillance court since spring 2005 but that "it took considerable time and work to develop" an approach that "would have the speed and agility necessary to protect the nation from al-Qaeda." An unidentified judge on the FISA court issued orders on Jan. 10 that effectively bring the NSA program under the secret court's authority, Gonzales wrote.
He and other administration officials had argued that operating the NSA spying program through the surveillance court would be slow and cumbersome. Justice officials released statistics yesterday showing improvements in the amount of time it takes to obtain intelligence warrants.
White House and Justice officials said the president was not retreating from his stance that he has the constitutional and legislative authority to order warrantless surveillance on international calls but said the new rules promulgated by the surveillance court have satisfied concerns about whether the FISA process can move quickly enough to authorize surveillance.
"They moot any questions we have had in the past about speed and agility," White House press secretary Tony Snow said. "We're satisfied that this will be effective. We found a happy agreement that allows the whole thing to be placed under the FISA court."
Another official, not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said both the director of national intelligence and the head of the NSA "have assured the president that the program and that the capabilities to protect this country remain intact under this new order."
Some Democrats remained critical of the secretive process that resulted in yesterday's announcement. Some staff members of the Senate and House intelligence committees were briefed on the plans last week, officials said, but the Judiciary panel was not notified until yesterday.
"This announcement can give little solace to the American people, who believe in the rule of law and ask for adequate judicial review," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), a member of the Judiciary Committee. "And why it took five years to go to even this secret court is beyond comprehension."
Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, which has been sharply critical of the NSA spying program, called the decision "an adroit back flip" by the Bush administration.
"It's clearly a flip-flop because they saw the writing on the wall," Romero said. "But it still does not address questions about whether the president broke the law. Complying with FISA now does not make his actions over the last 4 1/2 years legal."
