(CBS) A U.S. Foreign Intelligence court released a ruling Thursday upholding the right of the president and Congress to wiretap private international phone conversations and intercept e-mail messages without a court-issued warrant.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Appeals Court released an unclassified version of an August 2008 ruling that seems to validate President George W. Bush’s claim that the government can act without court orders in gathering intelligence.
The Bush administration came under heated criticism three years ago when a National Security Agency’s program for warrantless eavesdropping was revealed. The FISA court ruled last year that Congress acted within its authority when it passed the Protect America Act, which authorized the Bush administration to eavesdrop on international communication.
This is all well and good until you consider just who is on the FISA Court and how they got there.
First of all, the number of FISA members have been expanded from seven to eleven, three of which must live no further than twenty miles from Washington, D.C. Secondly, all the members of the court are chosen by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
Chief Justice Roberts - Bush hack
Herein lies the rub. As we discuss who is on the court we have to keep in mind that Chief Justice John Roberts is a neo-con, Bush hack who will appoint judges to do exactly as George W. Bush tells them to. Of course they are going to make rulings that it’s okay to wiretap without warrants. It is another Bush crime that they are still trying to make legal.
It would be difficult to find out the names of the judges currently appointed because of the secret nature of the court, but one thing is spiritually lifting. They will have to work closely with Eric Holder and the Obama administration. Holder’s office is down the hall from the judges chambers. Their ideologies will become moot during the next administration.
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