Considering NONE had been denied previous to the four denials on 2004, and undoubtedly when the administration saw a political trend with the FISA court, they went their own way. Smart move. I'm sure we would have seen many more denials if Bush would have continued to rely on FISA
Two of those targets were also approved, that is, the administration filed two requests for the same target, one was rejected and the second one was approved.
One was also denied in 1997. I checked all of the reports to Congress ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1551988/posts?page=65#65
I'm sure we would have seen many more denials if Bush would have continued to rely on FISA
The administration is continuing to rely on FISA. The "issue program" started in October 2001, and the FISA statistics show no abatement in the years 2002-2004, in fact, they increased rather dramatically.