Daschle Questions? Daschle? Who Cares?

Spying Necessary, Democrats Say
But Harman, Daschle Question President's Legal Reach

By Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 13, 2006; Page A03

Two key Democrats yesterday called the NSA domestic surveillance program necessary for fighting terrorism but questioned whether President Bush had the legal authority to order it done without getting congressional approval.

Rep. Jane Harman (Calif.), ranking Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and former Senate majority leader Thomas A. Daschle (S.D.) said Republicans are trying to create a political issue over Democrats' concern on the constitutional questions raised by the spying program.

At the same time, the Republican chairmen of the Senate and House intelligence committees -- Sen. Pat Roberts (Kan.) and Rep. Peter Hoekstra (Mich.), who attended secret National Security Agency briefings -- said they supported Bush's right to undertake the program without new congressional authorization. They added that Democrats briefed on the program, who included Harman and Daschle, could have taken steps if they believed the program was illegal. All four appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Roberts said he could not remember Democrats raising questions about the program during briefings that, beginning in 2002, were given to the "Gang of Eight." That group was made up of the House speaker and minority leader, the majority and minority leaders of the Senate, and the chairmen and ranking Democrats of the House and Senate intelligence committees.

At the briefings, Roberts said, "Those that did the briefing would say, 'Do you have questions? Do you have concerns?' " Hoekstra said if Democrats thought Bush was violating the law, "it was their responsibility to use every tool possible to get the president to stop it."

Harman countered that John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), vice chairman of the Senate intelligence panel, had voiced his concerns to Vice President Cheney in a classified letter in July 2003, but "if he had shared that letter publicly, I think he would have been in violation of the Espionage Act, the disclosure of classified information."

Harman said the briefings she received concerned "the operational details of the program," which she supported. "However," she added, "the briefings were not about the legal underpinnings of the program."

She said it was not until Bush publicly spoke about the program, after it was revealed in the New York Times in December, that she was free to discuss it with House staff and constitutional lawyers.

Daschle said he wants the program to continue but maintained that the warrantless wiretapping of calls that came into the United States or calls made overseas, even those involving suspected terrorist sources, violate the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

Looks like the Democrats have seen the writing on the wall. The American people support the NSA Al Qaeda communications monitoring program. Note the sea-change they have made. The Democrats were all set to use the "domestic spying" by the NSA as a campaign issue, but they found out that the American people approve of it. Now they are for it but they want the President to get their permission. Anyone who says Democrats can't tap dance just isn't paying attention. Fred Astair would be green with envy at the fancy Democrat footwork we have been seeing of late.

Democrats have been moving from issue to issue like a pin ball looking for something to use against Republicans. They are trying to keep 10 or 15 balls in the air, but none of them will float. Instead of coming up with real ideas for dealing with the problems America faces-hint: they have none-they continues to try to tear down the Republicans.

Full Story: Harman and Has Been Want Congressional Control of NSA Program

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