The Investigation of the NSA Must Begin

There has been far too much waffling and ducking by Republicans in the last five months on the NSA spying scandal. Five months have gone by without investigations. And the scandal grows. Assurances from Bush and General Hayden ring hollow every time we learn more. The Knight-Ridder Washington Bureau gives us a good summary of reactions in Washington from both sides of the aisle:

Revelations that the government collected the phone-call records of millions of Americans touched off a political firestorm Thursday, prompting calls for a congressional investigation and fueling opposition to President Bush's choice for CIA director.

USA Today reported Thursday that at least three companies - AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth - turned over call records for tens of millions of their customers to the National Security Agency (NSA) as part of the Bush administration's war on terrorism. Another company, Denver-based Qwest, refused to cooperate because it questioned the legality of the government program.

Critics said the massive collection of phone records violates Americans' privacy and raises disturbing questions about the government's reach into personal lives.

"Are you telling me that tens of millions of Americans are involved with al-Qaida?" Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., asked. "If that's the case, we've really failed in any kind of a war on terror."

(snip)

The Pentagon launched a Total Information Awareness program to mine a wide variety of electronic databases, but Congress shut it down in 2003. However, former government officials said that the Defense Department merely shifted the program to the NSA's Advanced Research and Development Activity under code names that have included "Basketball" "Genoa II" and "Topsail."

In 2004, the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, reported that the government had or was developing more than 120 programs to collect and analyze large amounts of electronic personal data.

(snip)

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a supporter of Hayden, said the new revelation could imperil Hayden's confirmation because "this program is of substantial concern to members, no question."

Hayden sought to tamp down opposition in private meetings with lawmakers Thursday. He declined to discuss NSA data collection.

"All I would want to say is that everything that NSA does is very carefully done, and that appropriate members of the Congress - House and Senate - are briefed on all NSA activities," he said between meetings.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said the program "is lawful and absolutely necessary" and said members of his committee have been properly briefed about it.

"Calls for further oversight are unnecessary," Roberts said.

Senator Feinstein should seriously reconsider her support of Hayden in light of these recent revelations and the continued stonewalling from the Bush Administration on the scope, size and purpose of the NSA spying involving tens of millions of Americans and the deliberate circumvention of Congress. Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, should be brought back to explain to Congress a number of his statements that now appear misleading.

Notice that Senator Pat Roberts is at it again. He has been a shameless defender of Bush's worst blunders and his continual grab for power; Roberts seems to have forgotten his constitutional responsibilities and even his own concerns (see this post I wrote a while back).

It seems every time we learn more about the NSA spying scandal, the program is bigger and more invasive than we thought. Here are some recent posts about the NSA that have appeared on Donkey Path in the past few months: here, here, here and here.

If readers are interested in more, just type "NSA" in the box at the top and click on "Search This Blog" and "Search All Blogs." Glenn Greenwald, Jason Leopold and James Risen are some writers that have followed the NSA story closely.

And let Congress and your local paper know what you think.