Bush seeks expansion of wiretaps

Bush seeks expansion of wiretaps
Plan allows U.S. to spy on more non-citizens, intercept messages
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
Published April 14, 2007

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration on Friday asked Congress to make more non-citizens subject to intelligence surveillance and authorize the interception of foreign communications routed through the United States.

Under the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, individuals must be associated with a foreign terrorism suspect or a foreign power to fall under the auspices of the FISA court, which can grant the authority to institute federal surveillance.

The White House proposes expanding potential targets to include non-citizens believed to possess, transmit or receive important foreign intelligence information, as well as those engaged in the United States in activities related to purchase or development of weapons of mass destruction.

The proposed revisions to the FISA law would also allow the government to keep information obtained "unintentionally," unrelated to the purpose of the surveillance, if it "contains significant foreign intelligence." Now, such information is destroyed unless it indicated threat of death or serious bodily harm.

And the suggested revisions provide for requiring telecommunications companies and e-mail providers to cooperate with investigations, while protecting them from being sued by their subscribers. The legal protection would be applied retroactively to companies that cooperated with the government after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The White House draft offered the first specifics of what Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell said Tuesday is needed to respond to "dramatic" changes in communications technology used by intelligence targets in this country.

The proposed changes do not address the controversial intelligence program, initiated in October 2001 and first disclosed in December 2005, of monitoring communications between the United States and another country in which one party is suspected of having terrorist connections, according to senior administration officials.

While the administration contends the proposed changes are intended to help the government better address national security threats, civil liberties groups see the government's effort as a needless power grab.

The administration wants to allow government lawyers to decide whether a FISA court order is needed for electronic eavesdropping based on the target of the monitoring, not the mode of communication or the location where the surveillance is being conducted.

One effect of such a change: The National Security Agency would have the authority to monitor foreigners without seeking court approval, even if the surveillance is conducted by tapping phones and e-mail accounts in the United States.

Most often used by the FBI and the NSA, the 1978 FISA law has been updated several times since it was first passed, including in 2001 to allow government access to certain business records.

Among other tools available now, the government can break into homes, hotel rooms and cars to install hidden cameras and listening devices, as well as search drawers, luggage or hard drives.

President Bush has been under fire for the program that allows the NSA to monitor international calls and e-mails coming into this country, when one party in the communication had suspected links to international terrorism. Earlier this year, Bush asked a federal court to oversee the operations, known as the terrorist surveillance program.

"This legislation is important to ensure that FISA continues to serve the nation as a means to protect our country from foreign security threats, while also continuing to protect the valued privacy interests and civil liberties of persons located in the United States," the Justice Department said in a fact sheet released Friday.

But civil liberties advocates at the American Civil Liberties Union and elsewhere see the changes as a sweeping overhaul that would undermine long-standing protections. Lisa Graves of the Center for National Security Studies said the changes are "poorly conceived" and "not justified," given a lack of oversight on the government's current powers.

A crucial Republican senator, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, said in an interview that he believed Congress might be reluctant to take significant action on the issue soon, because of legal challenges to the constitutionality of the domestic surveillance that are in the courts. Last year, a federal judge in Detroit ruled the program unconstitutional.

The administration has appealed to an appeals court in Cincinnati.

Among other things, the proposed legislation would:

*Clarify the standards the FBI and NSA must use to get court orders for basic information about calls and e-mails -- such as the number dialed, e-mail address, or time and date of the communications. Civil liberties advocates contend the change will make it too easy for the government to access this information.

*Triple the life span of a FISA warrant for a non-U.S. citizen from 120 days to one year, allowing the government to monitor much longer without checking back in with a judge. The Justice Department says this would allow the government to focus its resources on cases involving U.S. citizens because it wouldn't have to get as many time-consuming renewals on warrants for cases involving foreigners.

*Extend from 72 hours to one week the amount of time the government can conduct surveillance without a court order in emergencies.