fisa law

So what can we expect tomorrow when the hearings into the wiretapping kick
off. Well
Time
magazine has a little preview.

According to the documents, Gonzales plans to assert in his opening
statement that seeking approval for the wiretaps from the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court could result in delays that "may
make the difference between success and failure in preventing the next
attack." He will compare the program to telegraph wiretapping during the
Civil War. In accompanying testimony, the Attorney General plans to
leave open the possibility that President Bush will ask the court to give
blanket approval to the program, a step that some lawmakers and even some
Administration officials contend would put it on more solid legal footing.

Read the complete article
here.

So let's get this straight. On January 26, the President said this when asked
why he wasn't using the FISA courts:

Secondly, the FISA law was written in 1978. We're having this discussion
in 2006. It's a different world. And FISA is still an important tool. It's
an important tool. And we still use that tool. But also -- and we -- look --
I said, look, is it possible to conduct this program under the old law? And
people said, it doesn't work in order to be able to do the job we expect us
to do.

Complete transcript available
here.

The Associated Press is debunking the lies of the right when they try to say
Clinton broke the FISA law in the Aldrich Ames case 12 years ago.

[Scott] McClellan said the Clinton-Gore administration had engaged in
warrantless physical searches, and he cited an FBI search of the home of CIA
turncoat Aldrich Ames without permission from a judge. He said Clinton's
deputy attorney general, Jamie Gorelick, had testified before Congress that
the president had the inherent authority to engage in physical searches
without warrants.

"I think his hypocrisy knows no bounds," McClellan said of Gore.

But at the time of the Ames search in 1993 and when Gorelick testified a
year later, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act required warrants for
electronic surveillance for intelligence purposes, but did not cover
physical searches. The law was changed to cover physical searches in 1995
under legislation that Clinton supported and signed.

Bush's attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, made the same arguments as
McClellan during interviews Monday on CNN's "Larry King Live" and Fox News
Channel's "Hannity & Colmes."

View complete article

here.

If this is Bush's defense then Tom Delay should also face the charges that
got thrown out because the violation didn't become law until after the fact.
Considering Gonzales is also trying to use this failed argument gives proof he
is not in the position to make the call if it is legal or not. He is purely
using his position as Attorney General for political gains.