Shape-Shifting Specter

So-called "moderate" Rethug Arlen Specter breaks free of the Alito implant for a moment of sanity.

Specter Believes Spy Program Violates Law - Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' explanations so far for the Bush administration's failure to obtain warrants for its domestic surveillance program are "strained" and "unrealistic," the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman said Sunday.

Sen. Arlen Specter, whose committee has scheduled hearings Monday on the National Security Agency program, said he believes the administration violated a 1978 law specifically calling for a secretive court to consider and approve such monitoring.

Specter, R-Pa., said he might consider subpoenas for administration documents that would detail its legal justification for the program.

[snip]

"The president's authority to take military action — including the use of communications intelligence targeted at the enemy — does not come merely from his constitutional powers. It comes directly from Congress as well," in that post-Sept. 11 resolution, according to Gonzales' prepared testimony for the hearing. The Associated Press on Saturday obtained a copy of his scheduled remarks.

Specter was skeptical.

"I think that contention is very strained and unrealistic. The authorization for use of force never mentions electronic surveillance," Specter said.

In response to written questions submitted to him by Specter before the hearing, Gonzales gives an explanation why the administration bypassed the FISA court: "The delay inherent in the FISA process is incompatible with the narrow purpose of this early warning system."

Specter, however, said that response "was not entirely responsive. ... His answer wasn't really clear." The senator said there is no reason why the administration could not have consulted with the spy court or Congress, who could have changed the law if it was too cumbersome.

Unlike Intelligence Chair Pat Roberts, who recently defended Dubya's wiretaps, Specter is an honest-to-goodness lawyer who knows a thing or two about constitutional law. Moreover, as AMERICABlog suggests, this might be Arlen's payback for having Alito forced down his throat.

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