Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act news stories on Newser

Yoo: Wiretaps Were Legal and Necessary

Jason Farago — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 07:24:53 CDT

Last week the inspectors general of the Justice Department, CIA, and other agencies suggested the Bush administration violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, singling out lawyer John Yoo for memos justifying warrantless wiretapping. Yoo defends himself today in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, writing that FISA was "an obsolete law"...

House Rejects Immunity for Telecoms Again

Nick McMaster — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 15:10:00 CDT

The House again spurned President Bush today, passing a version of an anti-terrorism surveillance bill that does not grant retroactive immunity to the telecom companies that participated in the government's warrantless-wiretapping program. The vote was 213-197, far less than the two-thirds majority needed to override a promised presidential veto, Reuters...

Bush Urges Congress to Pass Surveillance Bill

Erin Mendell — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 09:29:38 CST

President Bush urged Congress this morning to pass an update to the terrorist surveillance bill that expired more than a week ago, CNN reports. Bush said the delay poses "a risk of opening a gap in our intelligence gathering." The bill stalled in the House over a provision granting immunity...

Bush Blasts Lawmakers for Neglecting Bills

Nick McMaster — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 17:49:39 CST

Lawmakers returned from Thanksgiving break today to face a scolding from President Bush over a number of unfinished bills, the Washington Post reports. Chiefly, Bush blasted them for stalling on Iraq funding—he wants $50 billion—as he cited “surge” success and warned of defense department layoffs if Congress keeps...

AG Mukasey Sics Justice Probers on Wiretap Program

Peter Fearon — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 04:00:00 CST

New Attorney General Michael Mukasey has named the Justice Department 's first investigative target: the Justice Department. Mukasey has reopened an internal probe of the role played by the agency's own attorneys in the controversial post-911warrantless wiretap program, reports the Wall Street Journal. The move is a key signal that...

Expect Less Privacy, Intelligence Official Says

Kevin Spak — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 15:40:45 CST

Americans need to redefine their idea of privacy, Deputy Director of National Intelligence Donald Kerr said today, as Congress reviewed an August FISA revision that allows warrantless eavesdropping. “Protecting anonymity isn't a fight that can be won,” Kerr says, arguing that, after giving information away on MySpace, or to “some...

Bush Signs Law Expanding Wiretap Powers

Peter Fearon — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 05:26:28 CDT

President Bush signed into law yesterday measures significantly expanding the government's authority to eavesdrop on millions of phone calls and e-mails going in and out of the US without warrants. The law, passed by Congress after bruising battles, effectively legalizes secret surveillance being conducted by a controversial National Security Agency...