McCain Contradicts Administration on NSA Wiretaps

David Mark, of Journalists Against Bush's B.S., suggests that either Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) or Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is "lying" regarding obtaining Congressional authority for the warrantless wiretaps program. McCain appeared with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday:

WALLACE: But you do not believe that currently he has the legal authority to engage in these warrant-less wiretaps.

MCCAIN: You know, I don't think so, but why not come to Congress? We can sort this all out. I don't think -- I know of no member of Congress, frankly, who, if the administration came and said here's why we need this capability, that they wouldn't get it.

Gonzales has said publicly that Congress would not amend FISA at the White House request. I remain unconvinced that Congress would have balked in the wake of 9-11, based on that august body's quick action on the Patriot Act and authorization to invade Afghanistan.

I'm still trying to understand why FISA's 72 hour "belated" warrant was not sufficient. Unless, of course, it's because FISA has started rejecting wiretap requests:

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) modified almost 100 times as many Bush administration wiretap requests (179) as it did in all prior administrations combined (2), according to an analysis of Department of Justice records by Hearst newspapers.

Technorati tags: John McCain, Politics, Terrorism
gada.be tags: Bush, Politics, Terrorism