Bush Spying Program Far Larger Than Public Knew

[Sandy Eggo]

Federal investigators are reporting that the controversial and secret electronic surveillance program ordered up by President George W. Bush ostensibly to catch terrorists, and whose existence was revealed by the New York Times, was part of an even larger spying operation.

NPR's Ari Shapiro provides more details on a report released today and produced by several federal department inspectors general:

    In 2005, the New York Times revealed that the President was eavesdropping on Americans without court oversight.


    This report says that was just one aspect of a much larger secret spying program.


    The other parts remain classified.


    This report says only the President was allowed to decide who could learn about the program.


    When Attorney General John Ashcroft asked to have his deputy and his chief of staff briefed, the White House said no.

    Eventually, many top officials at the Justice Department threatened to resign because they believed the program was illegal.


    It was eventually modified to address their concerns.


    This report also concludes that former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales did not intentionally lie to Congress under oath.


    However, "his testimony was confusing, inaccurate, and had the effect of misleading those who were not knowledgeable about the program."

You can read the entire report here:

NPR

[Philodox]

You can read the entire report here:

NPR

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All this ado about a program that never materialized. We can only wish that OBummer will watch out for this countries security as well as GW did.

... he's already vastly improved on Bush's spending habits.  lol

.

[me]

____________________________________________________________________

All this ado about a program that never materialized. We can only wish that OBummer will watch out for this countries security as well as GW did.

... he's already vastly improved on Bush's spending habits.  lol

.

Diverts attention from Pelosi though....

[Sandy Eggo]

Here's a thought, why not try reading the report so that you actually know something about the program, before you comment. It's helpful to discussion.

[me]

And that has what to do with anything that's going on now?  Diversionary tactic plain and simple. 

[Philodox]

Here's a thought, why not try reading the report so that you actually know something about the program, before you comment. It's helpful to discussion.

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There IS NO discussion, precious. The program(s) never materialized.

Gee... I think I said that. I wonder if the words willl sink in....hmmm ... I better AXT.

HEY - WhereintheworldisCARMAN !! .. There ARE no programs to discuss.

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[Sandy Eggo]

Phil - if you don't want to read and can't discuss then please move to the side and let the grownups talk.

me - the rights of the American people and the abuse of those rights is always current. Is it a distraction? Are the American people only able to focus on one piece of information at a time? I doubt it, but even if that were the intent - the facts don't change or become less important. 

[me]

You are spending far too much time looking at things brought up to divert that have no bearing on anything and completely missing what's going on now.  Try catching things that congress is trying to get passed now and don't worry so much about things that have long passed and are totally irrelevant at this point.   

Phil - if you don't want to read and can't discuss then please move to the side and let the grownups talk.

me - the rights of the American people and the abuse of those rights is always current. Is it a distraction? Are the American people only able to focus on one piece of information at a time? I doubt it, but even if that were the intent - the facts don't change or become less important. 

[Sandy Eggo]

You are spending far too much time looking at things brought up to divert that have no bearing on anything and completely missing what's going on now.  Try catching things that congress is trying to get passed now and don't worry so much about things that have long passed and are totally irrelevant at this point.   

I didn't look for anything. It was in the Friday news. Although I doubt they mentioned it on Faux. Did you bother to look at the article or the date of the report?

Our freedoms are always relevant.  Not that any of the republicans seemed to be paying attention while Bush and Co. stomped all over them. You spend too much time dismissing without even pausing to consider why it's very important.

[me]

I didn't look for anything. It was in the Friday news. Although I doubt they mentioned it on Faux. Did you bother to look at the article or the date of the report?

Our freedoms are always relevant.  Not that any of the republicans seemed to be paying attention while Bush and Co. stomped all over them. You spend too much time dismissing without even pausing to consider why it's very important.

And I say again...Why is that relevant to what's going on now?  Shouldn't the news be spending more time reporting what congress is up to now?
Fox brought it up but didn't dwell on it. 

[Sandy Eggo]

And I say again...Why is that relevant to what's going on now?  Shouldn't the news be spending more time reporting what congress is up to now?
Fox brought it up but didn't dwell on it. 

I'm not sure that anyone is "dwelling" on it. Did the fact that the report was issued on Friday escape you? That would explain why it's news had you taken the time to 1) look at the link and 2) read the report.

So, are you naive enough to think that anything that happened during the Bush years won't have future repercussions that we should be informed and concerned about?

[me]

If the program was not implemented isn't it moot anyway?  It was brought up when it happened and dropped so why rehash it?

[Exterminator]

me - the rights of the American people and the abuse of those rights is always current.

And those who so casually dismiss the importance of this deserve to be executed for treason.

[Sandy Eggo]

If the program was not implemented isn't it moot anyway? 

No, read.

[Sandy Eggo]

Here's more, I'll just post the link so that you can read it yourself.

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE56A2YS20090712