6/21/07

Illegal Domestic Spying Showdown

Via Think Progress:
The Senate Judiciary Committee just voted 13-3 to authorize chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) to issue subpoenas for documents related to the NSA warrantless surveillance program. Sens. Arlen Specter (R-PA), Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) voted with the Democrats on the committee to authorize the subpoenas for any legal opinions and advice the Bush administration has received regarding the NSA program.

The Center on Democracy & Technology has released a list of the seven “most wanted surveillance documents.” See the full list here.

The confrontation over the documents “could set the stage for a constitutional showdown over the separation of powers.” The Senate Judiciary Committee had previously scheduled to authorize subpoenas last week, but Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) blocked the Judiciary Committee from voting on the subpoenas.

On May 21, the Senate Judiciary Committee made at least its ninth formal request for the documents, but the Justice Department continued its stonewalling.

As more and more comes out about the NSA warrantless wiretapping surveillance program's infringements on your rights to privacy, the evidence is slowly piling up against the illegal actions of the bush administration in a system that has been twisted and corrupted by the GOP and is just another chapter in the story of how the cabal known as the bush administration has left the Constitution and the Bill of rights lying tattered on the floor of the White House.

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