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| Former CIA general counsel sez NSA program illegal |
| 2006-01-12 |
| Former CIA General Counsel Jeffrey Smith will testify in House hearings that there is no legal basis for President Bush's controversial National Security Agency domestic surveillance program, ABC News has learned. ABC News has obtained a copy of a 14-page memo Smith wrote to the House Select Committee on Intelligence in which he argues that the wiretaps are illegal. In his memo, however, Smith argues "it is not credible that the 2001 authorization to use force provides authority for the president to ignore the requirements of FISA." He said that if the president's arguments for the wiretaps are sustained "it would be a dramatic expansion of presidential authority affecting the rights of our fellow citizens that undermines the checks and balances of our system, which lie at the very heart of the Constitution." Smith is a Democrat who worked at the CIA in the Clinton years and as general counsel to the Senate Armed Services Committee under Sam Nunn, then a Democratic senator from Georgia. Smith is now in private practice. He plans to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Jan. 20. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #11 JEFFERYwhat a fag.Another DIRTBAG DEM. |
| Posted by: ARMYGUY 2006-01-12 08:01 |
| #10 I don't know Jeffrey Smith, but often these Senate Democrat staffers are some of the most partisan guys you'll ever run into. Usually more to the left than the Senators they work for. His stint at the CIA gives him no special status to comment on this subject any more than the thousands of other liberal Dem lawyers running around DC. |
| Posted by: HV 2006-01-12 16:56 |
| #9 after reading a couple of the articles I had no doubt that any of the members (which include Weasly Clark), would support wiretaps on anybody except if they had neon sign hanging over them proclaiming: âI am a terrorists and I want to kill Americans.â Democrats are the party that believes it's OK to wiretap their political opponents, hand around the FBI files of their political opponents, and obtain the credit reports of their political opponents, but it's illegal to listen to a phone number you found in the posession of a terrorist. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2006-01-12 13:16 |
| #8 God I loved Google! Ok gang you have to look at some material that Jeff and his buddies are publishing and the Markle task Force. I am not a conspiracy theorists and I am not an expert on LLL groups but the published material from this groups sounds awfully close to moonbat publication but with official type cover. For instance they are very much against a National IDs because they are too hard to make tamper proof. So I guess anyone can publish a Visa, Mastercard, or Amex at will? Why do they continue to issue individual cards? Just my two cents, but after reading a couple of the articles I had no doubt that any of the members (which include Weasly Clark), would support wiretaps on anybody except if they had neon sign hanging over them proclaiming: âI am a terrorists and I want to kill Americans.â But like I said it is just my two (ok three) cents. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2006-01-12 10:17 |
| #7 Phil_b, in the US laws prohibit activities for people. But we theoretically have government of limited powers delegated from the sovereign people. Thus the things the government may do are limited only to those stated in the Constitution. The issue is not data minimg. I suspect most would agree that phone calls legally intercepted may be mined. But the question is whether they were legally intercepted. We'll see. A second issue is the potentially treasonous behaviour of some in revealing secrets about what is arguably the strongest weapon in our intelligence arsenal. That is a matter that should be taken far more seriously than it is. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-01-12 08:58 |
| #6 "..affecting the rights of our fellow citizens.." Jeff 'the Weasil' Smith may be a partner in the Ramsey Clarke wing of the Usefull Idiots Club...after the testimony, who gets his expense report? |
| Posted by: Inspector Clueso 2006-01-12 08:43 |
#5
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| Posted by: ARMYGUY 2006-01-12 08:01 |
| #4 Smith is a Democrat Yes, coming into focus now, thank you. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-01-12 07:22 |
| #3 I'm not a lawyer, but my understanding is that the law exists to prohibit certain activities. If it is not prohibited then it's allowed. I have not seen any language in quite a number of sources quoting and interpreting the laws that even recognizes the possibility of something like data mining. So clearly the existing laws are not intended to prohibit data mining. You might argue that the language of the laws could be interpreted to prohibit some aspects of data mining, but that's for the courts to decide. But again my understanding is when in doubt, courts rely on the intent of the law. So all these arguments are based on 'Were the framers of the laws aware this were possible then they would have prohibited it.', an extremely flimsy argument. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2006-01-12 03:18 |
| #2 "Smith is a Democrat who worked at the CIA in the Clinton years" Covering his ass - its him and those of his ilk that rotted the CIA into the mess it is today. Bush needs to completely abolish the CIA, and hand its functions and personnel over to the NSA, DIA, FBA and DHS. |
| Posted by: Oldspook 2006-01-12 02:22 |
| #1 Glad this turd is a "former". I wish lies like this were prosecutable. The NSA does what the President directs. Five, count 'em: 5, court decisions have already held and confirmed that the Constitution gives the President the power to order surveillance in areas of national security. That he did it is to his credit. That he limited the scope is to his credit. That the fuckwits are in a lather, yet again, meming for all they're worth is icing on the cake. Papa John's? Yeah, I want a medium regular crust Italian Sausage with mushrooms, onions, green pepper, black olives and double cheese. Gate code is 195. 35 minutes? Cool. Lol. Fuck off Dhimmis, cowards, BDS Rangers, and Moonbats. |
| Posted by: .com 2006-01-12 02:11 |