Ramping up the response: Legal experts, privacy advocates and Democratic lawmakers are calling for investigations into whether the Bush administration broke the law when it authorized a secret program to eavesdrop on U.S. citizens without a court order.
According to GovExec.com, on Friday, seven Democrat representatives held an unofficial hearing to examine revelations that Bush ordered the National Security Agency to conduct warrantless wiretaps.
“I want to be absolutely clear, what the president ordered in this case was a crime,” said Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University.
He added that he believes Bush’s order is an impeachable offense. “This type of violation should be a textbook example of an impeachment issue, because not only is it a federal crime but it violates the doctrine of separation of power,” he said.
Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, said he sent a letter Friday to telephone and Internet providers, asking how and when they turned over customer content and records to the government.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Thursday sent a 42-page letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., outlining the administration’s defense of the program.
“The NSA activities are supported by the president’s well-recognized inherent constitutional authority as commander in chief and sole organ for the nation in foreign affairs to conduct warrantless surveillance of enemy forces for intelligence purposes to detect and disrupt armed attacks on the United States,” Gonzales wrote.
He argued that Congress gave Bush the power to conduct warrantless electronic surveillance through the Authorization for Use of Military Force, which was enacted one week after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Critics of the program contend that Bush should have followed the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which requires the issuance of a warrant by a secret court before electronic surveillance can be conducted.
During the Clinton Wars, Jonathan Turley was big advocate for — and ubiquitous talking head representing the legalities of — impeaching President Clinton
Let’s start pounding the drum for impeachment-why be shy?
they need to impeasc this SOB for his crimes of illegal wire taps THEY GOT OLD NIXON! OH I FORGOT he is not CLINTON! and he did not use his DICK! WELL i can tell you this! CLINTONS DICK DID NOT HURT US FOR HE HAD US IN GREAT SHAPE WITH A SURPLUS but this SOB is killing us WITH GAS PRICES TRILLIONS IN DEBT AND EVERY THING! GO FIGURE the SOB don’t heve enough BRAINS to be PRES BUT SURE IS GOOD AT BEING A CROOK!
did we not start a war on terrorism because it infringed on our freedom and attacked our civil rights. well what president bush has done is the same he has taken away our constitutional rights of the 1st and many other amendments. he is attacking his own country. why was he put into office again?
this is a violation of our constitutional rights. we can impeach clinton for sleeping around but not bush for condemning our right to privacy and to freedom of speech. what has this country come too?