[Mb-civic] White House Disputes Gore on NSA Spying - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

White House Disputes Gore on NSA Spying
2 Groups File Suit to Close Program

By Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 18, 2006; A06

The White House fired back at critics of President Bush in unusually 
tough terms yesterday as a pair of civil liberties organizations went to 
court in an effort to shut down the administration's domestic spying 
program as unconstitutional.

On a day that evoked the presidential campaigns of 2000 and 2004 -- and 
perhaps that of 2008 -- Bush's chief spokesman lashed out at former vice 
president Al Gore for "hypocrisy" and at Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 
(D-N.Y.) for "out of bounds" criticism. Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) 
joined the fray by accusing Bush of breaking the law.

The barrage was the latest episode in the uproar sparked by last month's 
disclosure that Bush authorized warrantless surveillance of telephone 
calls and e-mail between Americans and people overseas suspected of 
links to al Qaeda or other terrorist groups. Bush has defended the 
program as a vital tool in a fast-moving battle against elusive enemies, 
and he has cited the inherent powers of the presidency in circumventing 
a long-established secret court that issues warrants in intelligence cases.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional 
Rights filed separate lawsuits yesterday asserting that Bush exceeded 
his authority and violated Fourth Amendment guarantees against 
unreasonable searches and seizures by ordering the National Security 
Agency's surveillance.

"The current surveillance of Americans is a chilling assertion of 
presidential power that has not been seen since the days of Richard 
Nixon," said Anthony D. Romero, the ACLU's executive director.

The ACLU suit named eight other individuals and groups as fellow 
plaintiffs, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations; 
Greenpeace; the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; 
writers James Bamford, Christopher Hitchens and Tara McKelvey; and 
scholars Larry Diamond of Stanford University's Hoover Institution and 
Barnett R. Rubin of New York University. The ACLU said that because of 
their work, the plaintiffs "have a well-founded belief that their 
communications are being intercepted by the NSA" but offered no evidence.

On Monday, Gore accused Bush of "breaking the law repeatedly and 
insistently," and called for a special investigation. Gore, who lost the 
presidency to Bush in 2000, was seconded yesterday by Kerry, who lost in 
2004. "It is a clear violation of law," Kerry said on CNN.

"Al Gore's hypocrisy knows no bounds," Bush's press secretary, Scott 
McClellan, responded. "If he is going to be the voice of the Democratic 
Party on national security matters, we welcome it."

McClellan dismissed yesterday's court complaints as "frivolous lawsuits" 
that "do nothing to help enhance civil liberties or protect the American 
people."

The press secretary's charge of hypocrisy stems from warrantless 
searches conducted in the Aldrich Ames spy case during the Clinton-Gore 
administration and from comments by top Clinton aides asserting 
presidential prerogative. But Bill Clinton later supported amending the 
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to require warrants for foreign 
intelligence searches as well as wiretaps. Gore yesterday said 
McClellan's charges "are factually wrong" and that "the Clinton-Gore 
administration complied fully and completely with the terms of the law."

McClellan also returned fire against Hillary Clinton, who in a speech 
Monday called the Bush administration "one of the worst" in history. She 
also asserted that Republicans run the House as though it were a 
"plantation," in which the opposition has no opportunity to advance 
contrary views.

McClellan called the comments "way out of line" and suggested that 
Clinton's presidential ambitions were behind them.

Asked about Gore and Clinton attacking the same day, McClellan said, "We 
know one tends to like or enjoy grabbing headlines. The other one sounds 
like that the political season may be starting early."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/17/AR2006011701361.html
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