Posted on 05/17/2006 7:06:00 PM PDT by voletti
WASHINGTON: The White House, in an abrupt reversal, will allow the full Senate and House of Representatives intelligence committees to review President George W. Bush’s domestic spying programme, congressional officials said on Tuesday.
Two days before the programme was expected to dominate Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden’s Senate confirmation hearing as CIA director, the Republican chairmen of the Senate and House panels said separately that Bush had agreed to allow full committee oversight of his Terrorist Surveillance Programme.
The programme, which allows the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on the international phone calls and e-mails of US citizens without first obtaining warrants, has stirred an outcry in Congress among lawmakers who believe Bush may have overstepped his constitutional authority.
Up to now, the White House has sought to avoid full committee oversight by limiting briefings to subcommittees from each panel. Initially, the administration shared programme details only with the chairmen and vice chairmen of the committees and party leaders in the House and Senate.
“It became apparent that in order to have a fully informed confirmation hearing, all members of my committee needed to know the full width and breadth of the president’s programme,” Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, who heads the 15-member Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a statement. The first full Senate committee briefing was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
Hayden, who was the programme’s architect as NSA director from 1999 to 2005, was expected to face a blizzard of questions on NSA spying at a Thursday Senate confirmation hearing. Republican and Democratic senators have said his confirmation would depend on how detailed his answers would be.
A congressional aide who deals with intelligence matters said the change in policy on NSA oversight would also allow Hayden to speak about the programme during the classified segment of his confirmation hearing before Roberts’ committee. Reuters
give oversight to democrats in an election year, this is going to get uglier
Maybe the administration is looking to see who the leakers are on the Hill. Or maybe the whole story was bogus to smoke out who at NSA is leaking and to which members of the press?
I suspect they floated a red herring...to see who would leak it....and snare the leaker and his reporter buddy.
There goes the NSA. Leakers in Congress will have a great time putting more American lives in danger for the sake of politics. So much for connecting the dots.
I have a feeling a trap is being laid.
Going to be an interesting summer.
Well, if that is true. I hope they bring them both up on charges. I don't want a "deep throat" I want some trials. We are at war here.
Someone's butt is going to get snared....with all this clandestine stuff.
It makes no sense for President Bush to agree to this.
Dog, do we know if Rockefeller was even there. He has been notably absent from DC, ostensibly because of a serious back operaion which his website says allows him to work "from home" but not to be in the Capitol. I've been keeping my eye out for our own Mullah Omar.
Korea, NSA, hmm...is there any other current big issue wants off the front pages??
He is the ranking member of the Senate Intel Com....he was briefed...count on it.
I have a feeling a trap is being laid.
I believe you are correct....Bush doesn't trust them as far as he can throw them...
Just mail it on over to Bin Laden and save Al Quaeda some time.
Maybe the Republicans are learning.
Polls aren't showing much support for the President or Congress for that matter, but they do show widespread support for intelligence gathering in the war on terror.
Think they can resist leaking classified information about the program?
Start providing less critical information in the closed session, and see how long it takes for the Dems to prove that they can't be trusted with such information.
Limit the scope of the briefings due to the leaks, and let the Dems pay the price for their doing what they do best.
With all due respect Mr. President, this is really dumb. By the time the dems in congress get thru, they'll be accusing of everything under the sun.
i hope your right
Maybe the Republicans are learning.
Polls aren't showing much support for the President or Congress for that matter, but they do show widespread support for intelligence gathering in the war on terror.
Think they can resist leaking classified information about the program?
Start providing less critical information in the closed session, and see how long it takes for the Dems to prove that they can't be trusted with such information.
Limit the scope of the briefings due to the leaks, and let the Dems pay the price for their doing what they do best.
Of course that would require the Republicans to actually try and hold the Dems accountable for their treasonous acts.
Maybe they should stick with stonewalling on requests for oversight.
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