Posted on 02/08/2006 4:12:10 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - After weeks of insisting it would not reveal details of its domestic eavesdropping, the White House reversed course Wednesday and provided a House committee with highly classified information about the program.
The White House has been under heavy pressure from lawmakers who wanted more information about the National Security Agency's monitoring. Democrats and many Republicans rejected the administration's implicit suggestion that they could not be trusted with national security secrets.
The shift came after Rep. Heather Wilson (news, bio, voting record), R-N.M., chairwoman of a House Intelligence Committee subcommittee, broke with the Bush administration and called for a full review of the NSA's program, along with legislative action to update the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
"I think we've had a tremendous impact today," Wilson said at a news conference as Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Gen. Michael Hayden, the nation's No. 2 intelligence official, briefed the House panel on technical and tactical intelligence.
"I don't think the White House would have made the decision that it did had I not stood up and said, 'You must brief the Intelligence Committee,'" she said.
When asked what prompted the move to give lawmakers more details, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino the administration stated "from the beginning that we will work with members of Congress, and we will continue to do so regarding this vital national security program."
At least one Democrat left the four-hour House session saying he had a better understanding of legal and operational aspects of the anti-terrorist surveillance program being conducted without warrants but still had a number of questions.
"It's a different program than I was beginning to let myself believe," said Alabama Rep. Bud Cramer, the senior Democrat on the Intelligence Committee's oversight subcommittee.
"This may be a valuable program," Cramer said, adding that he didn't know if it was legal. "My direction of thinking was changed tremendously."
Still, Cramer said, some members remain angry and frustrated, and he didn't know why the White House waited so long to inform Congress of its actions.
Lawmakers leaving the briefing said it covered the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Justice Department papers outlining legal justifications for the operations, limited details on success stories and some highly sensitive details.
The White House has insisted that it has the legal authority to monitor terror-related international communications in cases in which one party to the call is in the United States.
For more than 50 days, senior officials have argued that Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were within the law when they chose to brief only the eight lawmakers who lead the House and Senate and its intelligence committees.
Let the leaks begin!
Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., chairwoman of the House Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence, speaks to the media during a press conference on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2006, in Washington. Breaking with the White House, Wilson who chairs the panel that oversees the National Security Agency wants Congress to change a 1978 foreign intelligence law following the disclosure of President George W. Bush's eavesdropping program. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
My bet is that what was given to the house committee has been tagged so that whoever leaks the information will be known.
Let's play a game children. Who will be he first moonbat democrat to leak this stuff to the media?
We've been TRYING to tell you.
Expect everything they heard to LEAK shortly.
On 9/11/2001 I wrote my congressman demanding a declaration of war from Congress.
Later, Congress provided an "Authorization for the Use of Force" which is a chickenshit way of avoiding giving power to the Executive Branch.
So now, we have treason occurring and no way to enforce it because we are not at war, we are at "Use of Force". These people (I mean our freakin congresspeople) are helping the enemy and nobody is doing diddly squat about it.
Man does that piss me off!
How pathetic does it get?!??
Shall we start the pool now?
I pray you are right.
Still, Cramer said, some members remain angry and frustrated, and he didn't know why the White House waited so long to inform Congress of its actions.
Ah, the Mediacrats see the writing on the wall. An orchestrated briefing allows a prominent Democrat to endorse what was legal and necessary while mini-slamming the national defense at the same time.
Brilliant.
Democrats lose again. Another one for Bush and Rove.
... an oxymoron of an oxymoron. if I ever heard one.
Details of the program soon to be released in the NY Times.
I'm sending her opponent a donation.
Heather represents a highly dem district and is facing a tough election this fall. Positioning herself.
Do we have a list of those who recieved this info?
I am certain we'll need the list.
Loose lips sink ships.
Lets see, what is the over and under on the Dems on the committee leaking to the NYSlimes?
The under is online now and the over is tomorrow morning's edition...
Please God they had enough brains to do that. I'm sure the NYT is frantically rushing all of the details to print even as I post.
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