Secret Court's Judges Were Warned About NSA Spy Data (Shhhhh...it's a secret)

Washington Post ^ | 2/8/06 | Carol D. Leonnig

[frankjr]

Twice in the past four years, a top Justice Department lawyer warned the presiding judge of a secret surveillance court that information overheard in President Bush's eavesdropping program may have been improperly used to obtain wiretap warrants in the court, according to two sources with knowledge of those events.

The revelations infuriated U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly -- who, like her predecessor, Royce C. Lamberth, had expressed serious doubts about whether the warrantless monitoring of phone calls and e-mails ordered by Bush was legal. Both judges had insisted that no information obtained this way be used to gain warrants from their court, according to government sources, and both had been assured by administration officials it would never happen.

The two heads of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court were the only judges in the country briefed by the administration on Bush's program. The president's secret order, issued sometime after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, allows the National Security Agency to monitor telephone calls and e-mails between people in the United States and contacts overseas.

Yet another problem in a 2005 warrant application prompted Kollar-Kotelly to issue a stern order to government lawyers to create a better firewall or face more difficulty obtaining warrants.

The two judges' discomfort with the NSA spying program was previously known. But this new account reveals the depth of their doubts about its legality and their behind-the-scenes efforts to protect the court from what they considered potentially tainted evidence. The new accounts also show the degree to which Baker, a top intelligence expert at Justice, shared their reservations and aided the judges.

[frankjr]

I really do think the Dems should just go ahead an pass a 'Terrorist Bill of Rights' so we can end all the B.S. stories and leaks.

Do people understand that there is a war going on???

[MNJohnnie]

Sorry unnamed source is journalistic malpractice. So Wash Poop is this the SAME unnamed source that told you Fritz was going to hand down "26 indictments reaching into the WH"? How many times are you morons at the Wash Poop going to get burned reporting rumor and gossip as fact?

[Steveone]

This is terrible what is the matter with these people!

[MNJohnnie]

" Both judges had insisted that no information obtained this way be used to gain warrants from their court, according to government sources, and both had been assured by administration officials it would never happen"

Which is why both self important morons were cut out of the loop. They had a chance to do their duty and decided to be DNC political whores instead. Come on scum. Run with this. You think the American people spanked you in 2002 and 2004? Come on and show them which side you all REALLY are on. How many of US have to die before YOU self important Democrat activist morons wake up?

[wildcatf4f3]

forest for the trees

[frankjr]

That's alright, these stories are doing nothing but making the Dems look weak on National Security (nothing new). And the public support for the NSA program has been growing since the news first broke.

[WarEagle]

Sorry, but Royce Lambert has been a reliable strict constructionist, and was one of the judges who recommended the appointment of Ken Starr. Kotar-Kelly (or whatever her hyphenation is) is a Clintoon appointee.

[acapesket]

any babe who is a judge and needs to keep her maiden name has "some Issues"... either that or she has no kids and is even more stupid than Margaret Marshall (D/ S. Africa/
MA Supreme Court.

Coming from a former Babe who uses her husband's name!

[sgtbono2002]

I would say that most Americans would want the President to be able to get information on terrorist activity. They dont object to eavesdropping on terrorist phone calls, but the press and the Democrat hate mongers are determined to keep hammering on this till something gives.

I guess they havent seen that it isnt causing a big stir among voters , just among the regular suspects ---Bush bashers.

[PogySailor]

So a possible scenario is this:

The NSA finds out that Mohammad al-Jihad in Warziristain is calling Muzar el Fatwah in the US. Turns this over to the FBI who goes to the FISA court for a warrant to do a full blown wiretap.

Isn't that how the systems is supposed to work? How the heck are we supposed to find out WHO to get a warrant for with out doing the preliminary work?

The MSM is spinning this so that it would appear to be illegal to even put together a list of suspects.

[Moonman62]

Do people understand that there is a war going on???

You do mean the war being waged by Democrats against President Bush, don't you?

[CHUCKfromCAL]

Colleen Kollar-Kotelly

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Colleen Kollar-Kotelly (born 1943 in New York) is a judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and the presiding judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC).

Kollar-Kotelly obtained her J.D. from the Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law in 1968. From 1969 to 1972, Kollar-Kotelly was an attorney for the Department of Justice, after which she became chief legal counsel for St. Elizabeths Hospital.

In 1984, Kollar-Kotelly was appointed as an associate judge of the D.C. Superior Court. She served as deputy presiding judge from 1995 until her appointment to the federal bench by President Bill Clinton was confirmed in March of 1997. In May 2002, Chief Justice William Rehnquist appointed Judge Kollar-Kotelly to serve as the presiding judge of the FISC.

In August 2001, Kollar-Kotelly received national attention when she was chosen to preside over the appeal in United States v. Microsoft, an anti-trust case. The decision was reversed in part and upheld in part.

[Enchante]

Exactly - I read this and say "bureaucratic bozos are trying to create extra barriers for intel agencies desperately trying to track down the perps of the next 9/11 before it happens." Oh, my, the FISA warrant process has to be so puuuuuuurrrrrre, and if we have vital counter-terrorist info derived from secret NSA monitoring of TERRORISTS we cannot use it to obtain a legal warrant for other kinds of monitoring.

In other words, these DNC-hacks would rather see thousands of Americans slaughtered in the next 9/11 than allow a FISA warrant to be based in any way upon vital information obtained by the NSA.

The implication for these bozos is: (1) we may know that X is part of an active Al Qaeda cell in the USA preparing to kill thousands, BUT (2) our hands are tied because the info was obtained from the NSA monitoring terrorist phone numbers obtained in some raid in Afghanistan, etc. (3) we'll just wait until X and his cell kill thousands, and then wail about how the Bush administration failed to "connect the dots"......

This is foolish, obtuse, PRE-9/11 thinking.

[csn vinnie]

Wait a minute Your Honor. Do I have this right? We were monitoring the enemy's wireless communications and found out they were talking a lot to somebody in the United States. So, we came to you for a warrant. Now, you say we can't have the warrant because the information that forms the basis for the request for a warrant was obtained without a warrant?

Cousin Vinnie

[Wasanother]

"Both judges had insisted that no information obtained this way be used to gain warrants from their court, according to government sources, and both had been assured by administration officials it would never happen."

Ah Dah! That's why it was called warrant less and besides the judges never said that gathering the info was illegal just that it didn't meet the courts standard for getting a warrant. This is why the Judiciary is not involved in military operations.

[p23185]

I really do think the Dems should just go ahead an pass a 'Terrorist Bill of Rights' so we can end all the B.S. stories and leaks. Do people understand that there is a war going on???

The Libs and most DemonRATs do NOT believe there is a WOT. So yes, just go ahead and pass a Terrorist Bill of Rights - we can save a hell of a lot of hearing time on the Hill. Let Congress get back to work - ha ha

[hipaatwo]

OH FOR CRYIN OUT LOUD ANOTHER LEAK!

[crushelits]

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly Judge Kollar-Kotelly was appointed to the United States District Court in May 1997.  She received a B.A. in 1965 from The Catholic University of America and a J.D. in 1968 from Columbus School of Law, The Catholic University of America.  Following law school, she served as law clerk to Judge Catherine B. Kelly of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.  From 1969 to 1972, Judge Kollar-Kotelly was an attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and then served as the chief legal counsel to Saint Elizabeths Hospital until 1984.  She was appointed Associate Judge of the D.C. Superior Court in October 1984, and served as Deputy Presiding Judge of the Criminal Division from 1995 until her appointment to the federal bench.  Judge Kollar-Kotelly has been a Fellow of the American Bar Association, a founding member of the Thurgood Marshall Inn of Court, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University School of Medicine in a joint teaching program on mental health and the law, and chair of the Board of the Art Trust for Superior Court.  Judge Kotelly was appointed by Chief Justice Rehnquist to serve as a member of the Judicial Conference Committee on Financial Disclosure from June 2000 through May 2002, and in May 2002 Chief Justice Rehnquist appointed Judge Kotelly to serve as Presiding Judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court , which is a 7-year appointment.

[MNJohnnie]

Amazing the same people who squealed the loudest about our failure to prevent 9-11 NOW are doing ever-thing in their power to return us to a 9-10-01 posture. So after finally tearing down Gorlick's stupid wall we will replace it with a Kotar-Kelly wall so the "Civil Libertines" can pat themselves on the back for their ideological purity until we can one day watch Miami or LA or Seattle vanish in a nuke fireball.

You do NOT have a Constitutionally protect right to commit treason. The minute they started playing footsie with Al Qeda they were NO longer protected as members of our Civil Society but were OUR ENEMIES as any even marginally sane Adult Judge should of instinctively KNOWN.

[onyx]

Have a look at this!

Sorry, I hit private message in error.
Ignore the mail...lol.