Senior House Republican wants answers on wiretap program

The Raw Story | Senior House Republican wants answers on wiretap program: "John Byrne | Published: February 8, 2006

The Republican Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee F. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) has issued 51 questions to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on President Bush's warrantless wiretap program.
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Strikingly, the letter to Gonzales quotes Harvard University professor Lawrence Tribe, a constitutional scholar who testified at unofficial hearings held by ranking Judiciary Democrat John Conyers (D-MI). In a letter to Conyers, Tribe wrote that the taps "far from being authorized by Congress, [fly] in the face of an explicit congressional prohibition and [are] therefore unconstitutional."

Writes Sensenbrenner: "Do you agree that FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) 'expressly prohibits' the specific activities under this program?"

Sensenbrenner also questions the program's authorization under FISA.

"What is the rationale for authorizing a program to conduct surveillance in a manner that does not require prior judicial review by the FISA court?"

"Have past United States Presidents employed signals intelligence of the kind authorized by President Bush after 9/11 to protect the nation during wartime? Please explain." ...