Senate panel drops probe of spy program
WASHINGTON – The Bush administration helped derail a Senate bid to investigate a warrantless-eavesdropping program Thursday after signaling it also would reject Congress’ request to have former attorney general John Ashcroft and other officials testify about the program’s legality. The actions underscored a dramatic and possibly permanent drop in momentum for a congressional inquiry, which had seemed likely two months ago.
Senate Democrats said the Republican-led Congress was abdicating its obligations to oversee a controversial program in which the National Security Agency has monitored perhaps thousands of phone calls and e-mails involving U.S. residents and foreign parties without obtaining warrants from a secret court that handles such matters.
“It is more than apparent to me that the White House has applied heavy pressure in recent days, in recent weeks, to prevent the committee from doing its job,” Senate intelligence committee Vice Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said after the panel voted along party lines not to consider his motion for an investigation.
There was one setback, however, to the administration’s efforts to keep tight wraps on the NSA operation. Thursday, a federal judge ordered the Justice Department to turn over its internal documents and legal opinions about the program within 20 days – or explain its reasons for refusing.
Before Thursday’s closed-door Senate intelligence committee meeting began, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the NSA program does not require “congressional authorization” but the administration is “open to ideas regarding legislation.” Committee sources said such comments – characterized as meaningful by Republicans, empty by Democrats – apparently persuaded GOP moderates to back away from earlier calls for a congressional investigation into the program.
After the meeting, committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., told reporters: “The administration is now committed to legislation and has agreed to brief more intelligence committee members on the nature of the surveillance program. The details of this agreement will take some time to work out.”
Democrats said the administration’s overture is so vague that it amounts to nothing, and is a stalling tactic to give Republican lawmakers political cover for rejecting a full inquiry. “For the past three years, the Senate intelligence committee has avoided carrying out its oversight of our nation’s intelligence programs whenever the White House becomes uncomfortable with the questions being asked,” Rockefeller told reporters. “The very independence of this committee is called into question.”
Ruling on records
In a victory for three privacy advocacy groups seeking Justice Department records about the program, U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. ruled Thursday that the department cannot decide on its own what documents it will provide, because news reports in December revealing the program’s existence have created a substantial public dialogue about presidential powers and individual privacy rights. Kennedy rejected Justice’s argument that, because so much of the surveillance program involves classified information, the agency alone can determine when it is feasible to review and possibly release documents.
“President Bush has invited meaningful debate about the warrantless surveillance program,” Kennedy wrote. “That can only occur if DOJ processes its requests in a timely fashion and releases the information sought.”