www.csua.org/u/ipb -> www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/washington/16nsa.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Skip to next paragraph Stephen Crowley/The New York Times James B Comey, an ex-deputy attorney general, testified Tuesday. Stephen Crowley/The New York Times Attorney General Alberto R Gonzales and President Bush Tuesday.
Although a conflict over the program had been disclosed in The New York Times, Mr Comey provided a fuller account of the 48-hour drama, including, for the first time, Mr Bush's role, the threatened resignations and a race as Mr Comey hurried to Mr Ashcroft's hospital sickbed to intercept White House officials, who were pushing for approval of the NSA program.
Several lawmakers wanted to examine Mr Gonzales's actions in the NSA matter, when he was White House counsel, and cited them to buttress their case that he should resign. He said he made his decision after the department's Office of Legal Counsel, based on an extensive review, concluded that the program did not comply with the law. At the time, Mr Comey was acting attorney general because Mr Ashcroft had been hospitalized for emergency gall bladder surgery. Mr Comey would not describe the rationale for his refusal to approve the eavesdropping program, citing its classified nature.
George Washington University Hospital with emergency lights flashing and a siren blaring, to intercept the pair. They were seeking his signature because authority for the program was to expire the next day. Mr Comey said he phoned Mr Mueller, who agreed to meet him at the hospital. Once there, Mr Comey said he "literally ran up the stairs." At his request, Mr Mueller ordered the FBI agents on Mr Ashcroft's security detail not to evict Mr Comey from the room if Mr Gonzales and Mr Card objected to his presence. Mr Comey said he arrived first in the darkened room, in time to brief Mr Ashcroft, who he said seemed barely conscious. Before Mr Ashcroft became ill, Mr Comey said the two men had talked and agreed that the program should not be renewed. When the White House officials appeared minutes later, Mr Gonzales began to explain to Mr Ashcroft why they were there. Mr Comey said Mr Ashcroft rose weakly from his hospital bed, but in strong and unequivocal terms, refused to approve the eavesdropping program. " I had just witnessed an effort to take advantage of a very sick man, who did not have the powers of the attorney general because they had been transferred to me. I thought he had conducted himself in a way that demonstrated a strength I had never seen before, but still I thought it was improper." Mr Gonzales and Mr Card quickly departed, but Mr Comey said he soon got an angry phone call from Mr Card, demanding that he come to the White House. Mr Comey said he replied: "After what I just witnessed, I will not meet with you without a witness, and I intend that witness to be the solicitor general of the United States."
Theodore B Olson, the solicitor general, at a dinner party. At the White House session, which included Mr Olson, Mr Gonzales, Mr Comey and Mr Card, the four officials discussed the impasse.
Mr Card expressed concern about mass resignations at the Justice Department, Mr Comey said. He told the Senate panel that he prepared a letter of resignation and that David Ayres, Mr Ashcroft's chief of staff, asked him to delay delivering it so that Mr Ashcroft could join him. The next morning, March 11, Mr Comey went to the White House for a terrorism briefing. Afterward, he said Mr Bush took him aside for a private 15-minute meeting in the president's study, which Mr Comey described as a "full exchange." At Mr Comey's urging, Mr Bush also met with Mr Mueller, who emerged to inform Mr Comey that the president had authorized the changes in the program sought by the Justice Department. "We had the president's direction to do what we believed, what the Justice Department believed, was necessary to put this on a footing where we could certify to its legality," Mr Comey said. Mr Comey said he signed the reauthorization in "two or three weeks." It was unclear from his testimony what authority existed for the program while the changes were being made. Mr Comey said he shelved his resignation plans that day when terrorists set off bombs on commuter trains in Madrid. Mr Comey left the Justice Department in August 2006, saying publicly that he had never intended to serve through the end of Mr Bush's second term. Privately, he has told friends that he grew weary of what he felt was increasing White House influence on the agency.
Tony Snow, the White House spokesman, deflected questions about Mr Comey's testimony, but defended the NSA program. Mr Snow also noted that the Justice Department placed the program under the supervision of a special intelligence court earlier this year, which department officials said placed the program on an even firmer legal footing. "Jim Comey can talk about whatever reservations he may have had, but the fact is that there were strong protections in there," Mr Snow said. "This is a program that saved lives, that is vital for national security, and furthermore has been reformed in a bipartisan way that is in keeping with everybody." Spokesmen for Mr Ashcroft, Mr Mueller, and the Justice Department declined to comment.
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