NSA surveillance program may have skirted 1991 law on congressional notification, say Democrats

[sabra]

Source: The Hill

The Bush administration may have sidestepped a key 1991 law regarding congressional notification of intelligence activities when it chose to alert just a handful of lawmakers of its warrantless surveillance program following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to Democratic sources.

From 2002 until 2006, only a tiny club was aware of the top-secret program: the chairmen and ranking members of the intelligence committees, as well as the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate, known informally as the “gang of eight.”

Under the 1991 law, however, the administration may limit notification to that group only in highly sensitive cases involving covert activities, not domestic or foreign intelligence gathering — which the warrantless surveillance program entailed. Otherwise, the administration must provide classified briefings to the full intelligence panels.

...

In both chambers, Democrats and some Republicans on the intelligence and judiciary panels are stepping up pressure on the administration for more information on the origins and legal justification of the program. Both judiciary committees have asked for documents that outlined the administration’s legal justification for the program, but have not received any yet, according to committee aides.

Read more: http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/nsa-surveillance-program-may-have-skirted-1991-law-on-congressional-notification-say-democrats-2007-06-05.html

[wakeme2008]

1. Question to ask was it the FULL gang of eight or

did a couple Dems not get invited to the special sessions. I would bet YES.

[bemildred]

2. Bush? "Sidestep" the law? Surely you jest. nt

[Richard Steele]

3. What's with this "skirted" and "sidestepped" bullshit? The law was BROKEN.

BROKEN- not "skirted", BROKEN. Not "sidestepped", BROKEN.

[mikelgb]

7. don't forget it "may have"

[Norquist Nemesis]

10. Oh, don't worry. Maybe they did; maybe they didn't. But every thing

is all fixed and better now. We just have to move on. It's all in the past.

:argh: :argh: :argh: :argh: :argh: :argh: :argh: :argh: :argh:

[Kagemusha]

4. I thought at the time, the admin was quite open about this.

It was simple. Either only the Gang of Eight got notified or the admin would simply stop reporting completely and totally defy the law under Bush's super duper commander in chief powers because Congress can't be trusted with sensitive information that much. If Congress had a problem with it, Congress could have raised the issue further but, duh, it did not. Certainly not the Republican leadership.

[Bitwit1234]

5. What difference will it make????

No matter what he has done, no matter what he has yet to do, no body, no one, especially congress is going to hold him accountable. He tumbs his nose at all American and the democrats in congress sit on their butt.

[here_is_to_hope]

6. I am with ya here....

I see very little if any use in these "investigations"....

[slutticus]

11. My first thought too....

So f'in what????

Bush could kill a man on the floor of congress with television cameras rolling and not a god damned thing would be done about it.

[november3rd]

8. Class Action

I would love to see CREW or the ACLU bring a class action against BushCo as in The People of the United States of America vs. George W. Bush and General Michael Hayden.

[Norquist Nemesis]

9. Pshaw! This is such ho-hum old news

On the up side, maybe it will get more traction this time!

As to the topic at hand...MAY have? MAY HAVE? That was EXACTLY what they did!

[AndyTiedye]

12. NSA Provides Karl Rove With All The Blackmail Material He Needs

[OzarkDem]

13. Remember when

WH used to give separate security briefings to GOP and Dems in Congress? Wonder what else was going on?

Wasn't that practice also illegal?