All they had to do was ask

06 Aug

Posted by MacRanger as FISA, News

You all know I’m tough on those that leak, but this is bogus. According to the Soros funded liberal “Watch Puppy” CREW:

“Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the Department of Justice asking that the Counterespionage Section of the National Security Division initiate an investigation into whether House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-OH) violated the law by leaking classified information.

In a July 31, 2007 interview with Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto, Rep. Boehner disclosed an aspect of a Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court‚Äôs decision regarding warrantless wiretapping, stating:

There’s been a ruling, over the last four or five months, that prohibits the ability of our intelligence services and our counterintelligence people from listening in to two terrorists in other parts of the world where the communication could come through the United States.

By telling a reporter that a FISA court has restricted the U.S. intelligence community’s surveillance of suspected terrorists overseas, Rep. Boehner appears to have transmitted information relating to the national defense in violation of 18 U.S.C. ¬ß 793(d).”

Er, not quite. Fact is that FISA info was declassed prior to him talking about it TV as is the SOP. Remember the President can declassify information as can a handful of other officials throughout the administration.

Yes, good information on that.

All they had to do was ask.

No Response

Neo

August 6th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
1

in a July 31, 2007 interview with Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto, Rep. Boehner disclosed …

Funny I recall reading about the FISA court stuff about a week earlier, at WSJ I think.

I even commented on 29 July, two days before Rep. Boehner, on a number of blogs that …
Currently, there are some FISA judges that consider any call that is routed through the US to be a “domestic” phone call, even if it is between two al Qeada members in the UK and Indonesia. So long as it passes through phone equipment in territorial USA, they consider it “domestic” and under the supervision of FISA.

Even AP seems to be spilling the beans on 30 July …
The new plan, offered late last week by Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell, would change the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to allow surveillance without a warrant of terror suspects who are overseas. The Bush administration believes the FISA court now must approve such spying because many conversations and contacts taking place overseas are routed through U.S.-based communication carriers, satellites or Internet providers.
crosspatch

August 7th, 2007 at 1:03 am
2

oh, and this just in.
Neo

August 7th, 2007 at 6:42 am
3

I thought about this over night and realized that Rep. Boehner isn’t quite right in his statement.

As stated in my own post (above), it isn’t that this “prohibits the ability” to listen, but rather it stalls the ability by requiring a FISA court order. If the terrorist had listened to Rep. Boehner statement, they may have believed that they could talk “in the clear”, but they would be wrong.