Bush was denied wiretaps, bypassed them (FISA Court denied them in unprecedented numbers)

UPI ^ | Dec. 27, 2005 | UPI

[Pragmatic_View]

WASHINGTON, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush decided to skip seeking warrants for international wiretaps because the court was challenging him at an unprecedented rate.

A review of Justice Department reports to Congress by Hearst newspapers shows the 26-year-old Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court modified more wiretap requests from the Bush administration than the four previous presidential administrations combined.

The 11-judge court that authorizes FISA wiretaps modified only two search warrant orders out of the 13,102 applications approved over the first 22 years of the court's operation.

But since 2001, the judges have modified 179 of the 5,645 requests for surveillance by the Bush administration, the report said. A total of 173 of those court-ordered "substantive modifications" took place in 2003 and 2004. And, the judges also rejected or deferred at least six requests for warrants during those two years -- the first outright rejection of a wiretap request in the court's history.

[xcamel]

At least somebody remembered that the anti-american moonbat "federal jurist" was unanimously overturned by a 3 judge panel.

[Mo1]

Bush asked the court to do X...they court ordered him to do Y.....understand?

I thought that's what it said.. but they can't do that .. can they?

I THOUGHT it was Congress that wrote and amended the rules?

[speedy]

I think he believes the legitimacy of his actions are self-evident. He seems disinterested in their political aspects. It's frustrating, especially since his enemies are so eminently bash-worthy. A few well-placed attacks would do wonders for rallying the troops.

[Cementjungle]

So, 97% of the requests were approved as is, without modification. This is an "unprecedented" rate of rejection?

What's the number of annual requests that were approved, as compared with previous administrations?

[Howlin]

How the hell can we fight terrorism when apparently the entire United States government is aligned AGAINST us!!!!

[Pragmatic_View]

It's more like it's going to take a nuclear attack on a US city, before some people realize that the danger IS REAL.

[rdb3]

So, the President went through the proper channels on these wiretaps, and the court rebuffed him?

Puts a new spin on things.

[Clara Lou]

Very enlightening.

[Lurking Libertarian]

It would be interesting to know how many on the FISA court are Clinton placements.

No matter who originally appointed them federal judges, all members of the FISA court were appointed to that court by Chief Justice Rehnquist.

[Mo1]

Thanks .. I've been out of the loop on news the last few days

[Dog]

Yes they can..

[oldbrowser]

Clinton Appointees.

I thought the Chief Justice appointed fisa judges ?

[Howlin]

Because those are all POLITICAL problems, and Bush doesn't commnet on snarky political fights.

[USNBandit]

U.S. President George Bush decided to skip seeking warrants for international wiretaps because the court was challenging him at an unprecedented rate.

There is nothing in this story to support this statement other than the crack(pot) analysis of the modification of a small percentage of the warrant requests.

179 of the 5,645

I'm calling B.S. on this conclusion. Three percent of your warrant requests get modified and that is your motivation to not consult the FISA court? That's a pretty weak piece of evidence upon which to base a conclusion. How many of the wiretaps authorized were domestic only in nature? How many total wiretaps were conducted without a warrant from the court?

It could be possible that the warrants discussed in this article were all domestic and that the number of warrantless taps were a small percentage of the taps conducted. We will never know because that would derail this whole story.

This is a perfect example of a journalist taking one fact, building some unsupportable conclusions from it, and writing a story around those conclusions. The Jayson Blair School of Journalism.

I will cease ranting.

[xcamel]

not "entire", just enough liberal plants by previous administrations, running courts, and important departments, that will do anything to maintain their liberal philosophy without regard to whom ever is in the white house, or who is in charge of congress.

[Howlin]

Know what you mean! (The last of my Christmas company just left, so I'm doing laundry, getting ready for the people coming in to town for a wedding. UGH)

[Lurking Libertarian]

I recall reading about FDR's plan to pack the Supreme Court but Clinton was able to pack the FISA Court with ACLU types without anyone noticing.

The members of the court are not appointed by the President, they arew appointed by the Chief Justice.

[xcamel]

indeed.. but I still smell a rat. I believe the modifications are waaaaay under reported.

[demkicker]

No wonder Bush used his Constitutional Authorities rather than the FISA Courts. Any President in their right minds would have done the same thing and skip this sham court.

Whataya know, the UPI is telling the truth about this sham court while at the same time hoping it will make Bush look bad... I'm shocked.

For those of you who missed this, treat yourself to a great read.

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

So that's only two appointees during Clinton's administration and the rest under Bush, but all by a conservative Chief Justice.