Bush-era Surveillance Went Beyond Wiretaps

[tekisui]

Source: LA Times

Reporting from Washington -- The Bush administration's post-Sept. 11 surveillance efforts went beyond the widely publicized warrantless wiretapping program, a government report disclosed Friday, encompassing additional secretive activities that created "unprecedented" spying powers.

The report also raised new questions about how the Bush White House kept key Justice Department officials in the dark as it launched the surveillance program.

In a move that it described as "extraordinary and inappropriate," the report said the White House relied on a single, lower-level attorney in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel for assessments about the programs' legality.

The attorney, John Yoo, a young George W. Bush appointee with close ties to the president's inner circle, wrote a series of memos legally blessing the program even though his superiors and most top officials were uninformed about it.

The report was compiled at the request of Congress by five government agency watchdogs: the inspectors general of the Justice Department, Pentagon, CIA, Directorate of National Intelligence and National Security Agency.

It represents the most detailed public disclosure of the existence of secret surveillance efforts beyond the warrantless wiretapping program, saying the overall package of efforts came to be known in the Bush administration as the "President's Surveillance Program."

more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-wiretap11-2009jul11,0,1989283.story?page=1

[NJmaverick]

1. I would like to know if this helped him in his campaign against Kerry

such a network would be ripe for such abuse.

[tekisui]

2. The article didn't say what the further use or abuse was.

I hope we find out. I would bet money Kerry Camp was spied on. Probably Obama, too.

[Frustratedlady]

4. I thought several reporters said they KNEW they had been tapped?

I can't remember who, but they figured it out some way.

When Kerry had that "deer in the headlights' look a couple days before the election, I suspected he learned of something like wiretapping or was told enough to realize they had been listening to his conversations and reading emails. Something sure happened at the end to take the wind out of his sails.

K&R'd

[elehhhhna]

8. google Christianne Amanpour wiretap

hl=en&ei=7C1ZSrOpAYLcsQP6huXWBg&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=christiane+amanpour+wiretap&spell=1

[Frustratedlady]

9. My computer was down and I just now got back on. I read DU posts on Christianne

and discovered something I didn't know.

That Jamie Rubin is her husband and that he worked on the Kerry campaign. Were they tapping Christianne or tapping her husband? We always suspected they were tapping Kerry.

Interesting.

[Octafish]

3. OT: What asswipe hit ''un-recommend'' for this post?

This is a critical post for understanding what the Bush crime family has done to America.

Regarding the OP: Karl Rove and his body would do anything for power and profit. They must have gotten the goods on just about everybody who's anybody for them to be getting away with it.

Congreff! Wake the hell up. Your country needs you.

[nashville_brook]

5. if they're going to have this stupid 'unrec' feature, they should also list the "unrec'ers"

like, the unrec would generate an empty post by the unrec'er. otherwise it's like an anonymous denial of service attack.

[hootinholler]

6. That's not a bad Idea but wouldn't it lead to witch hunts?

:shrug:

On edit: Maybe there could be a mark by your posts that indicated rec/unrec?

-Hoot

[nashville_brook]

7. i like your idea -- i think that would mitigate the negative power of anonymous denial

and also encourage community building.