Legal Commentary

Senate Committee to Investigate Illegal NSA Wiretapping

By Jeralyn

The New York Times has a big scoop on the warrantless NSA wiretapping program: The NSA admits it was out of control for a while and numerous Americans were tapped and had their records seized.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Diane Feinstein says the Committee will investigate.

I'm more concerned that Attorney General Eric Holder has reapproved and sought renewal of the program, saying the problems have been fixed.

As part of a periodic review of the agency’s activities, the department “detected issues that raised concerns,” it said. Justice Department officials then “took comprehensive steps to correct the situation and bring the program into compliance” with the law and court orders, the statement said. It added that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. went to the national security court to seek a renewal of the surveillance program only after new safeguards were put in place.

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