| Monday, February 06, 2006 |
| The spy hearings, take five |
Another good point by a Republican. Sen. Lindsey Graham asked Gonzalez (paraphrasing):
GRAHAM: It seems to me that when the Congress in 1978 set up the FISA law, they took into account the president's inherent authority under Article II, they considered it, and they decided that the FISA court is the exclusive means of conducting surveillance on domestic pesons in the collection of foreign intelligence. They considered your arguments, and they ruled on the matter. So if we buy your argument that the president's inherent authority means that he can bypass the FISA law, then wouldn't the president also have the authority under Article II to set aside the anti-torture statute we recently passed if he thought it impeded his war-making powers?
AG: uh... that's not what we're doing here... I don't think that's where we are...
GRAHAM: That's where you are with me...
I'll have to go back and grab the Feingold moments... For now, the Kos kids are updating...
2:14 p.m.: New York's Chuck Schumer is up to bat. He is asking about the resignations from NSA over discmfort with the program, and Gonzales is essentially denying that they happened...
Gonzales again refused to answer the question of whether he believes the president's inherent authority would also allow him to eavesdrop on two al-Qaida suspects who were both inside the United States.
2:23 p.m.: Cornyn is up...
Tags: politics, News, Bush, national security, NSA, government, spying, president, hearings, impeachment |
posted by JReid @ 2:05 PM   |
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