Bush
WASHINGTON (AP):
THE JUSTICE Department has opened an investigation into the leak of classified information about President George W. Bush's secret domestic spying programme, Justice officials said yesterday.
The officials, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the probe, said the inquiry will focus on disclosures to The New York Times about warrantless surveillance conducted by the National Security Agency since the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The Times revealed the existence of the programme two weeks ago in a front-page story that acknowledged the news had been withheld from publication for a year, partly at the request of the administration and partly because the newspaper wanted more time to confirm various aspects of the programme.
The story unleashed a firestorm of criticism of the administration. Some critics accused the president of breaking the law by authorising intercepts of conversations - without prior court approval or oversight - of people inside the United States and abroad who had suspected ties to al-Qaida or its affiliates.
SURVEILLANCE PROGRAMME
The surveillance programme, which Bush acknowledged authorising, bypassed a nearly 30-year-old secret court established to oversee highly sensitive investigations involving espionage and terrorism.
Administration officials insisted that Bush has the power to conduct the warrantless surveillance under the Constitution's war powers provision. They also argued that Congress gave Bush the power to conduct such a secret programme when it authorised the use of military force against terrorism in a resolution adopted within days of the September 11, 2001, attacks.
The Justice Department's investigation was being initiated after the agency received a request for the probe from the NSA.
The administration's legal interpretation of the president's powers allowed the government to avoid requirements under the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
