[Infowarrior] - White House agrees to NSA review by court: senator

[Richard Forno]

I'm sure there's a catch somewhere, but haven't found it yet.   -rf


White House agrees to NSA review by court: senator

By Thomas Ferraro
Reuters
Thursday, July 13, 2006; 11:48 AM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/13/AR2006071300
689_pf.html

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House, in a policy reversal, has agreed to
allow a secret federal court review of the National Security Agency's
domestic spying program, a top Senate Republican announced on Thursday.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter said he has negotiated a
proposed bill with the White House that would achieve that and voiced hope
his panel would approve it.

"We have structured a bill which is agreeable to the White House and I think
will be agreeable to this committee," Specter told the panel, which will
vote on it perhaps later this month after members have had an opportunity to
review it.

Specter and other lawmakers pressed Bush to seek clearance from the secret
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court for the spying program,
implemented after the September 11 attacks and first disclosed last December
by The New York Times.

Specter earlier said the administration may have broken the law in allowing
the NSA to monitor international phone calls and e-mails of U.S. citizens
without first obtaining warrants.

The act requires warrants from the court for intelligence-related
eavesdropping inside the United States. But Bush had defended the program,
saying he had the power and responsibility as a wartime president to protect
the nation.

Specter said he had been in discussions with Bush and other members of the
administration for weeks to forge a deal.

The Pennsylvania Republican said the court will determine the program's
constitutionality based, in part, on arguments presented to it by the
attorney general.

Specter said the court will also consider an explanation about how the
program is "reasonably designed to ensure that the communications
intercepted involve a terrorist agent of a terrorist or someone reasonably
believed to have communications associated with a terrorist."

The bill would also require the attorney general to provide members of the
House of Representatives and Senate intelligence committees with information
about any electronic surveillance program in effect.
© 2006 Reuters