Constitutional Law

DOJ Says NSA Overreached on Domestic Wiretapping

Justice Department officials are acknowledging that wiretapping in recent months by the National Security Agency (NSA) exceeded legal boundaries set by Congress. 'These are serious allegations, and we will make sure we get the facts,' said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Reports are emerging that, among the illegal domestic surveillance operations conducted, the NSA attempted to wiretap a yet to be named member of Congress without a warrant. While some observers have spent this morning narrowing down who that Congress-person may be, intelligence experts in Congress are incensed. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) stated that this report confirms 'a tragic retreat from the principles that had governed the sensitive area of government surveillance for the previous three decades.'

Congress passed the 2008 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act after reports revealed the NSA's domestic wiretapping without legislative approval. At the time, setting the limits, which the NSA has since overstepped, was hotly debated.

Full post as published by ACS Blog on April 16, 2009 (boomark / email).