csua.org/u/eeq -> www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/21/AR2005122102326.html
More Judges on Surveillance Court To Be Briefed on Spy Program By Carol D Leonnig and Dafna Linzer Washington Post Staff Writers Thursday, December 22, 2005; Page A01 The presiding judge of a secret court that oversees government surveillan ce in espionage and terrorism cases is arranging a classified briefing f or her fellow judges to address their concerns about the legality of Pre sident Bush's domestic spying program, according to several intelligence and government sources. Several members of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court said in in terviews that they want to know why the administration believed secretly listening in on telephone calls and reading e-mails of US citizens wi thout court authorization was legal. Some of the judges said they are pa rticularly concerned that information gleaned from the president's eaves dropping program may have been improperly used to gain authorized wireta ps from their court.
US Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, head of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, expects officials from NSA and the Justice Departmen t to explain the warrantless spying. US Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, head of the Foreign Intelligence Surve illance Court, expects officials from NSA and the Justice Department to explain the warrantless spying.
"The questions are obvious," said US District Judge Dee Benson of Utah. "What have you been doing, and how might it affect the reliability and credibility of the information we're getting in our court?" Such comments underscored the continuing questions among judges about the program, which most of them learned about when it was disclosed last we ek by the New York Times. On Monday, one of 10 FISA judges, federal Judg e James Robertson, submitted his resignation -- in protest of the presid ent's action, according to two sources familiar with his decision. He wi ll maintain his position on the US District Court here. Other judges contacted yesterday said they do not plan to resign but are seeking more information about the president's initiative. Presiding Jud ge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who also sits on the US District Court for the District of Columbia, told fellow FISA court members by e-mail Monda y that she is arranging for them to convene in Washington, preferably ea rly next month, for a secret briefing on the program, several judges con firmed yesterday. Two intelligence sources familiar with the plan said Kollar-Kotelly expec ts top-ranking officials from the National Security Agency and the Justi ce Department to outline the classified program to the members. The judges could, depending on their level of satisfaction with the answe rs, demand that the Justice Department produce proof that previous wiret aps were not tainted, according to government officials knowledgeable ab out the FISA court. Warrants obtained through secret surveillance could be thrown into question. One judge, speaking on the condition of anonymi ty, also said members could suggest disbanding the court in light of the president's suggestion that he has the power to bypass the court. The highly classified FISA court was set up in the 1970s to authorize sec ret surveillance of espionage and terrorism suspects within the United S tates. Under the law setting up the court, the Justice Department must s how probable cause that its targets are foreign governments or their age nts. The FISA law does include emergency provisions that allow warrantle ss eavesdropping for up to 72 hours if the attorney general certifies th ere is no other way to get the information. Still, Bush and his advisers have said they need to operate outside the F ISA system in order to move quickly against suspected terrorists. In exp laining the program, Bush has made the distinction between detecting thr eats and plots and monitoring likely, known targets, as FISA would allow . Bush administration officials believe it is not possible, in a large-scal e eavesdropping effort, to provide the kind of evidence the court requir es to approve a warrant. Sources knowledgeable about the program said th ere is no way to secure a FISA warrant when the goal is to listen in on a vast array of communications in the hopes of finding something that so unds suspicious. Attorney General Alberto R Gonzales said the White Hou se had tried but failed to find a way. One government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said th e administration complained bitterly that the FISA process demanded too much: to name a target and give a reason to spy on it. "For FISA, they had to put down a written justification for the wiretap," said the official.
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