Gore: NSA program needs outsider inquiry
WASHINGTON – Former Vice President Al Gore on Monday called for an independent investigation of President Bush’s domestic spying program, contending the president “repeatedly and insistently” broke the law by eavesdropping on Americans without court approval.
Speaking on Martin Luther King Jr.’s national holiday, the man who lost the 2000 presidential election to Bush was interrupted repeatedly by applause as he called the anti-terrorism program “a threat to the very structure of our government.”
Gore charged that the administration acted without congressional authority and made a “direct assault” on a special federal court that authorizes requests to eavesdrop on Americans. One judge on the court resigned last month, voicing concerns about the National Security Agency’s surveillance of e-mails and phone calls.
A spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, Tracey Schmitt, attacked Gore’s comments shortly after address.
“Al Gore’s incessant need to insert himself in the headline of the day is almost as glaring as his lack of understanding of the threats facing America,” Schmitt said. “While the president works to protect Americans from terrorists, Democrats deliver no solutions of their own, only diatribes laden with inaccuracies and anger.”
Gore’s speech was sponsored by the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, and The Liberty Coalition, two organizations that have expressed concern about the policy.
The former vice president said Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should name a special counsel to investigate the program, citing the attorney general’s “obvious conflict of interest” as a member of the Bush Cabinet as well as the nation’s top law enforcement officer.
Gonzales has agreed to testify publicly at a Senate hearing on the program. He defended the surveillance on cable news talk shows Monday night.
“This program has been reviewed carefully by lawyers at the Department of Justice and other agencies,” Gonzales said on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity & Colmes.” “We firmly believe that this program is perfectly lawful. The president has the legal authority to authorize these kinds of programs.”
On CNN’s “Larry King Live,” Gonzales said Gore’s comments were inconsistent with Clinton administration policy.
“It’s my understanding that during the Clinton administration there was activity regarding physical searches without warrants,” Gonzales said. “I can also say it’s my understanding that the deputy attorney general testified before Congress that the president does have the inherent authority under the Constitution to engage in physical searches without a warrant. And so, those would certainly seem to be inconsistent with what the former vice president was saying today.”
Gore said there is still much to learn about the domestic surveillance program, but he already has drawn a conclusion about its legality.
“What we do know about this pervasive wiretapping virtually compels the conclusion that the president of the United States has been breaking the law repeatedly and insistently,” the Democrat maintained.