Well, Al Gore Does Know More About Breaking The Law Than Most

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; Page 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.

Gee, three "Bastions of American Values" have spoken out against the President, pardon me while I yawn. You've got to be kidding, the ACLU? The most anti-American anti-freedom organization in the United States is speaking out? Duh, if it's Republican, then they're against it. Their record speaks for itself. As to Algore, as I said yesterday, Al knows corruption. Just ask the Chinese. Kerry-Heinz? Irrelevant, partisan nobody, Presidential wannabe. The fact remains that the President has the inherent power to do as he has done. No amount of hyperventilating and hyperbolizing is going to change that fact. If indeed the Supreme Court actually rules against the administration, no law was broken, and their can be no impeachment. It is an unadjudicated and disputed point of law. You Liberals just need to get over it. You lost, and you continue to lose because you are in the wrong.

Full Story: White House Takes the Offensive

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