Specter just asked Gonzalez if when they do go to the FISA court for a
warrant if they disclose that their information for the warrant was obtained by
warrantless taps. Gonzalez would not answer because he didn’t feel comfortable
going in to it. This was a very important question. If FISA is denying warrants
because the information on the warrant was obtained via a warrantless tap then
it provides a serious legal blow to Bush’s warrantless program.
Gonzalez just said in order for a wiretap to be initiated that a member of
the security team at the NSA has to identify that one person in the call is an
agent or official of al Qaeda or other terrorist organizations. This really
should be a wake up call. First off, they have made employees of NSA act as
judges. Second, and most important is the “other terrorist organizations” line
in there. So who are these other terrorist organizations? Are they the same ones
the FBI and Pentagon have coined “terrorist organizations”? Did the Attorney
General just admit that this program would allow for the warrantless taps of
groups like Quakers and PETA, which are organizations they have treated as
terrorist organizations?