Constitutional Scholars See Bush's Actions as Unconstitutional &Illegal

As a Federal Judge Resigns to Protest Secret Bush Wiretaps, Leaders of Both Parties Express Serious Concerns Over Legality of President’s Covert Domestic Spying Program
Date Published: December 22, 2005
Source: Newsinferno News Staff


Several Constitutional scholars like Prof. Susan Low Bloch of Georgetown University see the president’s actions as both unconstitutional and illegal. As professor Bloch indicated in an interview on MSNBC last evening, the president is not specifically empowered to order the secret surveillance by either the Constitution or any existing federal statute.

Moreover, the administration is not, and does not claim to be, following the statute known as the Foreign Service Intelligence Authority which gives the president certain limited authority to conduct surveillance activity.

When former presidents Clinton and Carter acted under FISA (Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act) they did so pursuant to specific subdivisions of the statute and after making the Executive Order public.

President Bush has failed to comply with the statute, and has kept the order under which he authorized the surveillance activities, secret. Had it not been for the N.Y. Times report, the activity would have remained secret.
http://www.newsinferno.com/storypages/12-22-2005~001.html

I hear the weather service is upping their prediction of January temps in D.C.!

:bounce:

sitting on this story for so long. They could have changed the outcome of the 2004 election. I call this voter tampering.

I agree. NYT knew this was illegal and suppressed the activity. Whomever was responsible to secret this felony(ies) are co-conspirators.

* Null and void whenever a distant descendant of King George III, as pResident, says so.

This is just insane!!!

This administration has imposed a police state, violated the Constitution, committed numerous felonious acts, even admitted so doing,...and they are walking the halls of the WH and Pentagon and Congress and Dept of State?

Damn!!!

This one isn't going away. And we will have Abramoff while it is building.

They've done so much damage. They are doing more and will continue to do so.

This insanity really must end.

...and Joe Sixpack pretty much holds scholarship in contempt. After all, it's those egg-headed intellectuals who keep insisting that Godless evolution be taught in science classes. And -- and everyone knows college perfessers are liberal.

The Bush administration twists the fruits of higher education and research for its own purposes -- e.g. the way they talk about global warming and stem cell research.

It's going to depend on the "news" media doing some actual objective reportage and devoting enough time to the issue for Bush's crimes to really sink in across a broad swath of the public. If MSM treats it as another he-said/she-said or titillating story it will look trivial and like more partisan sniping.

I'm pleased at the widespread discomfort shading to genuine outrage over the domestic spying. We'll just have to see where it goes.

Hekate

She's a constitumatooshional skoller. FOX News always bills her like that. I've never seen any other ones on TeeVee, didn't even know there was any 'side from her!

Before someone takes b*** out back and hangs the SOB?