like the rats leaving the sinking ship?

[46zilzal]

Top Republican raises impeachment over surveillance flap

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A top US Republican senator for the first time mentioned impeachment in connection with President George W. Bush's authorization of electronic surveillance inside the United States without a court warrant.

Arlen Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, cautioned it was too early to draw any conclusions as his committee gears up for public hearings into the growing controversy early next month.

But in his appearance on ABC's "This Week" program, Specter insisted the Senate was not going to give the president what he called "a blank check."

When asked what could happen if lawmakers find Bush in violation of the law, Specter answered: "Impeachment is a remedy. After impeachment, you could have a criminal prosecution, but the principal remedy ... under our society is to pay a political price."

[ljb]

Who woulda thunk ? A top Republican using the I word. :D

[twindouble]

Top Republican raises impeachment over surveillance flap

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A top US Republican senator for the first time mentioned impeachment in connection with President George W. Bush's authorization of electronic surveillance inside the United States without a court warrant.

Arlen Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, cautioned it was too early to draw any conclusions as his committee gears up for public hearings into the growing controversy early next month.

But in his appearance on ABC's "This Week" program, Specter insisted the Senate was not going to give the president what he called "a blank check."

When asked what could happen if lawmakers find Bush in violation of the law, Specter answered: "Impeachment is a remedy. After impeachment, you could have a criminal prosecution, but the principal remedy ... under our society is to pay a political price."

This is a freaking Joke, congress can call for hearings if someone forgot to zip his fly. Ring a bell. :lol:

[DJofSD]

Clinton Claimed Authority to Order No-Warrant Searches.

December 20, 2005, 9:46 a.m.
National Review.com
Excerpt:
In a little-remembered debate from 1994, the Clinton administration argued that the president has "inherent authority" to order physical searches — including break-ins at the homes of U.S. citizens — for foreign intelligence purposes without any warrant or permission from any outside body. Even after the administration ultimately agreed with Congress's decision to place the authority to pre-approve such searches in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court, President Clinton still maintained that he had sufficient authority to order such searches on his own.

"The Department of Justice believes, and the case law supports, that the president has inherent authority to conduct warrantless physical searches for foreign intelligence purposes," Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee on July 14, 1994, "and that the President may, as has been done, delegate this authority to the Attorney General."

"It is important to understand," Gorelick continued, "that the rules and methodology for criminal searches are inconsistent with the collection of foreign intelligence and would unduly frustrate the president in carrying out his foreign intelligence responsibilities."

Executive Order 12333, signed by Ronald Reagan in 1981, provides for such warrantless searches directed against "a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power."

Reporting the day after Gorelick's testimony, the Washington Post's headline — on page A-19 — read, "Administration Backing No-Warrant Spy Searches." The story began, "The Clinton administration, in a little-noticed facet of the debate on intelligence reforms, is seeking congressional authorization for U.S. spies to continue conducting clandestine searches at foreign embassies in Washington and other cities without a federal court order. The administration's quiet lobbying effort is aimed at modifying draft legislation that would require U.S. counterintelligence officials to get a court order before secretly snooping inside the homes or workplaces of suspected foreign agents or foreign powers."


============================================
THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

__________________________________________________ ______________________
For Immediate Release February 9, 1995


EXECUTIVE ORDER 12949

- - - - - - -
FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE PHYSICAL SEARCHES


By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution
and the laws of the United States, including sections 302 and 303 of the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ("Act") (50 U.S.C. 1801,
et seq.), as amended by Public Law 103- 359, and in order to provide for
the authorization of physical searches for foreign intelligence purposes
as set forth in the Act, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Pursuant to section 302(a)(1) of the Act, the
Attorney General is authorized to approve physical searches, without a
court order, to acquire foreign intelligence information for periods of
up to one year, if the Attorney General makes the certifications
required by that section.

Sec. 2. Pursuant to section 302(B) of the Act, the Attorney
General is authorized to approve applications to the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Court under section 303 of the Act to obtain
orders for physical searches for the purpose of collecting foreign
intelligence information.

Sec. 3. Pursuant to section 303(a)(7) of the Act, the following
officials, each of whom is employed in the area of national security or
defense, is designated to make the certifications required by section
303(a)(7) of the Act in support of applications to conduct physical
searches:

(a) Secretary of State;

(B) Secretary of Defense;

© Director of Central Intelligence;

(d) Director of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation;

(e) Deputy Secretary of State;

(f) Deputy Secretary of Defense; and

(g) Deputy Director of Central Intelligence.

None of the above officials, nor anyone officially acting in that
capacity, may exercise the authority to make the above certifications,
unless that official has been appointed by the President, by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate.


WILLIAM J. CLINTON


THE WHITE HOUSE,
February 9, 1995.

[Lefty]

Gonzalez, y'know, the Attorney Gen of the U.S., has already said Bush was within the law. Goodnight!

[Secretariat]

Gonzalez, y'know, the Attorney Gen of the U.S., has already said Bush was within the law. Goodnight!

wow...there's a surprise...Wonder why his Deputy Secretary said he doubted it was within the law. Courts or Congress will ultimately decide Lefty. Not Gonzo.

[Lefty]

sec, how can they decide against him when Clinton and others set the precedent? This one is over, bub.

[PaceAdvantage]

What is this, the 10th time Bush is on the verge of impeachment....

Don't people get tired of crying wolf?

And where is the perp walk for Karl Rove....I'm still waiting for that one....

Here's a newsflash...Bush ain't getting impeached....now go back to sleep...

[Tom]

wow...there's a surprise...Wonder why his Deputy Secretary said he doubted it was within the law. Courts or Congress will ultimately decide Lefty. Not Gonzo.

Gee Sec, you put so much credence in "his deputy secretary" though one way, but none at while when the BOSS thinks another!:confused: :bang:

[twindouble]

What is this, the 10th time Bush is on the verge of impeachment....

Don't people get tired of crying wolf?

And where is the perp walk for Karl Rove....I'm still waiting for that one....

Here's a newsflash...Bush ain't getting impeached....now go back to sleep...

The Lock Box Neanderthal made a resounding Dean like speech yesterday demanding Bush's head. Looks like I'm going to tortured again in 08, Gore, Kerry, Dean. This country is going to hell in a hand basket, we just can't get rid of all those loony politicians.

Gore's and Kerry's voice plus the manor of delivery is enough to drive me nuts. Plus I'm so disgusted with what's been going on I just might pull the plug on those ass holes (pardon me.) that attempting to get elected at any cost destroying America in the process.


T.D.

[ljb]

What is this, the 10th time Bush is on the verge of impeachment....

Don't people get tired of crying wolf?

And where is the perp walk for Karl Rove....I'm still waiting for that one....

Here's a newsflash...Bush ain't getting impeached....now go back to sleep...
Truth be known, I don't think anyone here believes his arrogance will be impeached. It is just rhetoric being spouted to keep people aware of how our current President is above the law, in case they want to do anything about it come next election. As for Rove, the jury is still out on this one, but I would sure relish watching the king of crooks do the walk. Perhaps he could get in a barbershop quartet with Delay, Abramoff and Scooter. At least until Bush pardons the lot. :lol:

[kenwoodallpromos]

46, that non-story is called a "Sunday filler". :lol:

[hcap]

Originally posted by DJofSD Clinton Claimed Authority to Order No-Warrant Searches.

December 20, 2005, 9:46 a.m.
National Review.com
Excerpt:
In a little-remembered debate from 1994, the Clinton administration argued that the president has "inherent authority" to order physical searches — including break-ins at the homes of U.S. citizens — for foreign intelligence purposes without any warrant or permission from any outside body.
BUT BROKE NO LAW!!

..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.

..Associated Press:

Now I grant you that they were TRYING to increase their powers, and in that regard they are hypocritical. But if being hypocrites were grounds for impeachment, we would have very short lived presidents.

Bush went around the law.

Not all who are objecting are libs.

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=59381
Leading Conservatives Call for Extensive Hearings on NSA Surveillance; Checks on Invasive Federal Powers Essential

" WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances (PRCB) today called upon Congress to hold open, substantive oversight hearings examining the President's authorization of the National Security Agency (NSA) to violate domestic surveillance requirements outlined in the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

Former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr, chairman of PRCB, was joined by fellow conservatives Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR); David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union; Paul Weyrich, chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation and Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, in urging lawmakers to use NSA hearings to establish a solid foundation for restoring much needed constitutional checks and balances to intelligence law."

[hcap]

BTW,

There is some dispute about whether or not NO warrants were issued at all

http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1994_rpt/ssci_ames.htm

An Assessment of the Aldrich H. Ames Espionage Case and Its Implications for U.S. Intelligence

Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
01 November 1994
Part One

"The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (hereinafter "the Committee") received its initial briefing regarding the case on the day the arrests were publicly announced. The facts contained in the affidavit supporting the arrest and search warrants were summarized by representatives of the FBI."

At some point warrants were used to conduct searches.