Article: Top Democrat Says Bush Broke the Law By Authorizing Surveillance

Yoo wrote that his ideas would likely be seen as violating the Fourth Amendment. But he said the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and the prospect that future attacks would require the military to be deployed inside the U.S. meant President Bush would "be justified in taking measures which in less troubled conditions could be seen as infringements of individual liberties."

Yoo also wrote in the memo that domestic surveillance activities, such as monitoring telephone calls without a court's permission, might be proper notwithstanding the Fourth Amendment's ban on the government conducting unreasonable searches and seizures, without court warrants.

Hints in Opinions

Early references to Bush's surveillance program were also included in one of Yoo's legal opinions released by the Obama administration in April. That memo, titled "Authority for Use of Military Force to Combat Terrorist Activities Within the United States," concluded "that the Fourth Amendment had no application to domestic military operations."

The report by the inspectors general also said Yoo's opinion letting Bush circumvent the FISA court jeopardized the Justice Department's relationship with the court.

Indeed, in December 2005, after the New York Times exposed the existence of the domestic surveillance program, U.S. District Court Judge James Robertson resigned from the FISA court.

Robertson told colleagues that President Bush's unilateral decision to spy on Americans suspected of links to terrorists, without first seeking approval from the 11 judges assigned to the FISA court, was legally questionable and his resignation should be interpreted as a sign of protest.

After the inspectors generals' report was released Friday, Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, renewed his calls for a bipartisan "truth commission" to examine abuses of power during the Bush administration.

"This report underscores why we should move forward with a nonpartisan Commission of Inquiry," Leahy said. "Without a thorough, independent review of decisions that run counter to our laws and treaties, we cannot ensure that these same mistakes are not repeated. Such a Commission must have bipartisan support to be able to truly get to the bottom of these issues with objectivity and credibility."

Leahy's counterpart in the House, Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, who also has been pushing for investigations and has called on Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Bush-era abuses, said the report showed that Bush "broke the law" by "personally authorizing the warrantless surveillance program."

Conyers added, "The refusal of key Bush administration officials such as [Vice President Dick Cheney's chief counsel] David Addington and John Yoo to cooperate with the IGs' review underscores the need for an independent commission with subpoena power to further review these issues, as I have called for."

Last Updated on Sunday, 12 July 2009 15:38

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