Justice Department probes its own role in spying program
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-16 10:41

Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said the office routinely looks into issues of this kind.

"They will not be making a determination on the lawfulness on the NSA program, but rather will determine whether the department's lawyers complied with their professional obligations in connection with examining this program," Roehrkasse said.
Sen. Joseph Biden, like Hinchey a member of the opposition Democrats, urged the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday to open its own investigation.

"Everyone is for listening in on terrorists' phone calls. But we don't know who the NSA is listening to or the extent of the program," Biden said.

Democrats are seeking a wide-ranging examination of all domestic spying programs as the committee prepared to discuss the matter Thursday in a closed session. The Intelligence chairman, Republican Sen. Pat Roberts, has been generally less critical of the spying program than many other senators.

"Al-Qaida knows that we eavesdrop and wiretap," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. "It is the American people who are surprised and deceived by the president's program of secret surveillance on them without a judge's approval."

Bush's decision to authorize the largest U.S. spy agency to monitor people inside the United States, without warrants, has generated a flurry of questions about the program's legal justification.

The Bush administration says the NSA's activities were narrowly targeted to intercept international calls and e-mails of Americans and others inside the U.S. with suspected ties to the al-Qaida network.

One intelligence committee Republican, Sen. Mike DeWine, is considering legislation that would authorize Bush's program by exempting it from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. That law set up a special court to approve warrants for monitoring inside the United States for national security investigations. DeWine also wants Congress to be briefed regularly.

California Rep. Jane Harman, top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said she opposes the proposal. Harman said the FISA law should be changed to speed up warrant applications, a problem cited by the administration, or the president's program should be canceled.

"To keep this critical foreign collection capability, Congress must put it on a strong legal footing," Harman said.