Senate Judiciary Chairman's Letter on NSA Program to Att. Gen. Gonzales (with letter)
By Andrew Cochran
Sen. Arlen Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote a 3-page letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, asking him to address 15 specific subjects in the opening statement at the committee's upcoming hearing on the NSA surveillance issue on February 6. The subjects include, "Why did the Executive not ask for the authority to conduct electronic surveillance when Congress passed the Patriot Act and was predisposed, to the maximum extent likely, to grant the Executive additional powers which the Executive thought necessary?...Why did the Executive Branch not seek after-the-fact authorization from the FISA Court within the 72 hours as provided by the Act?...What case law does the Executive rely upon in asserting Article II powers to conduct the electronic surveillance at issue?" You can download the full letter below:
Download 012406SpecterGonzalesNSA.pdf