Report: Bush program extended beyond wiretapping

[sabra]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration authorized secret surveillance activities that still have not been made public, according to a new government report that questions the legal basis for the unprecedented anti-terrorism program.

It's unclear how much valuable intelligence was yielded by the surveillance program started after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, according to the unclassified summary of reports by five inspectors general. The reports mandated by Congress last year were delivered to lawmakers Friday.

President George W. Bush authorized other secret intelligence activities - which have yet to become public - even as he was launching the massive warrentless wiretapping program, the summary said. It describes the entire program as the "President's Surveillance Program."

The report describes the program as unprecedented and raises questions about the legal grounding used for its creation. It also says the intelligence agencies' continued retention and use of the information collected under the program should be carefully monitored.

...

The IG report said an unnamed White House official inserted a paragraph into the first threat assessment prepared by the CIA after the Sept. 11 attacks, which was used to justify the extraordinary intelligence measures.

Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/national/1153ap_us_domestic_surveillance.html

---

full report here: http://washingtonindependent.com/50380/the-inspector-generals-report-on-warrantless-surveillance

[Lone_Star_Dem]

1. Another article regarding this from WaPo

White House Kept Justice Lawyers in Dark on Warrantless Wiretapping

The Bush White House so strictly controlled access to its warrantless eavesdropping program that only three Justice Department lawyers were aware of the plan, which nearly ignited mass resignations and a constitutional crisis when a wider circle of administration officials began to question its legality, according to a watchdog report released today.

The unclassified summary is the first public sign of a long running investigative review of a program that provoked fierce conflict within the highest levels of the Bush administration in 2004. At the time, the Justice Department's second in command and the director of the FBI both vowed to resign if President Bush continued with electronic intelligence gathering that they believed was outside the boundaries of the law.

Today's report, prepared by five inspectors general from government intelligence agencies, was mandated by Congress in legislation last year that updated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to accommodate new technologies. The bulk of the review remains highly classified.

<snip>

The inspectors general from the Departments of Justice and Defense, as well as the CIA, the NSA and the office of the Director of National Intelligence, said they reviewed thousands of documents and interviewed more than 200 people in connection with the report, including Bush era officials John Negroponte, who served as director of national intelligence, National Security Agency Director Michael V. Hayden, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

But other key figures such as Bush White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, former Attorney General John D. Ashcroft and former CIA director George Tenet declined interview requests, investigators said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/10/AR2009071002536.html

[defendandprotect]

35. Wow . . . Andy Card, AG Ashcroft and CIA Dir. Tenet "declined inerview requests" . . . hmmm

And was that the stuff that Ashcroft was refusing to sign off on --

and something even worse?

[Rosa Luxemburg]

63. Uncle Dick won't let them!

Uncle dick is still in charge even though he is writing books and guarded by funding by we the taxpayers!

[TankLV]

65. So how many prominenet DEMOCRATS were they ILLEGALLY spying on?!!!

I bet THAT's the real reason noone said/did ANYTHING to slow them down, let alone STOP or OPPOSE these REPUKE War Criminals...

[troubledamerican]

82. Blackmailing Democrats AND Republicans in addition to

spying on Democrats for strategy.

[L. Coyote]

98. All of them, of course, all the Dems.

[L. Coyote]

69. "only three Justice Department lawyers were aware of the plan" and everyone on DU!!

Deja DU: L. Coyote = Are ALL COMMUNICATIONS routed overseas to circumvent US law and the Constitution?
Fri Nov-09-07 09:03 AM = http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2245762

WA Post is running the cover-up still!!

[aggiesal]

83. ... the surveillance program started after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, ...

This is such complete nonsense.
It has been proven that this program started just
weeks after King George took office in Jan. 2001.

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

89. If this program

has captured 1/10th of you in the manner this govt. has violated me and I believe the number is much higher than 1/10 there is no longer a working constitution in this country.

I have had a computer monitor sizzled, I have been locked out of a computer, I have been hacked and followed in my usage of the internet.

I have had Bush quote what I have said in my own apt. and use these words as his own. I have written here at DU about the gross violations to my constitutional rights, my inability to get a lawyer to represent me, my requests from people in congress to look into these violations, and I have suffered for years because of a secret surveillance program. I have an implant in my arm that I did not put there, did not give permission for, and had agents in the Homeland Security Department wave a cat toy laser pen over when requesting assistance hoping they could remove it. And, I have been tortured. I am State Secrets. That is the only reason I can think of that what has been done to me has been ignored and allowed.

Many of you have not believed me. Many here have crowned me with a tin foil hat.

Now we find out the congress has a classified paper of illegal surveillance done by the President of the United States using methods that Mueller calls "part of a program much talked about". And yes, I will call George Walker Bush president and I believe you should too. Not calling Bush president puts him in a different league than our current president who is now responsible and accountable for the office of president of the United States. It was from the office of the president of the United States that these violations to me, and you have occurred.

I have said here that all communications in blogs and this message board were swept up and WE have been survielled because not everyone posting lives in the US. And that "legalizes" what they have done. (in their twisted comprehension of legal)

I wrote an email to the FBI not long ago and since then my cursor has an out-growth at the top, it looks like something a rope would be tied on to hang someone. Did the FBI get a judge to approve a warrent under FISA to violate my 4th amendment rights because I wrote an email to them with info I thought might be helpful?

And wait, there's more!

If I told you everything I know, and half of what I suspect I would soon be buried. That is what I believe.



:redbox: :tv:

[defendandprotect]

95. But AP is helping them with the cover up . . .

[BlooInBloo]

2. The shit is hitting the fan about this on msnbc now.

[No Elephants]

12. Good thing we have thousands of fan wipers on the federal payroll these days, then, isn't it?

POTUS
House
Senate
SCOTUS
D of J
CIA

and so on.

So hush up and look forward, not back.

Geez, some folks just never get with the program.

[MissDeeds]

55. Wish I could recommend this post n/t

[AndyA]

3. I have one word for Bushco: PRISON

That's where they all need to be.

Spying

Lying

Illegal wars

Failure to protect

Corruption

Cronyism

No-bid contracts

$4.50/gallon gas

Outing covert CIA agents (why is this not treason?)

Violation of international law and treaties

What is it going to take, Obama? What do you need to see as proof, Holder, to do something about these abuses? Will you both continue to look the other way, cover up these crimes, and then become complicit in them?

[Iowa]

6. That horse has left the barn...

"Will you both continue to look the other way, cover up these crimes, and then become complicit in them?"

---

They already have, and they already are. GW Bush is the first three-term president since FDR. Only time will tell if the Constitution can survive 12 years of Bush/Obama. Let's just hope that there is a strong contender in the Democratic primary in 2012 so it isn't 16 years.

[ChiciB1]

18. Sad, So So Sad! I Hate To Say I Think You May Be CORRECT!! I Say

PROSECUTE! Blowing Into The Wind!!

Who has ANY balls these days?? Sorry, that's harsh, but I'm just so PISSED!

WE THE PEOPLE!!! HA!!!!

:nuke: :mad:

[lib2DaBone]

36. I agree. It won't be long until Obama steps up to protect Bush....

No torture photos.. embrace that special legislation by Liberman and Lindsey Graham..

[No Elephants]

97. "Ir won't be long until Obama steps up to protect Bush?That's been happening since

Inauguration Day.

[Seldona]

42. You would compare President Obama to Bush?

Wow. What pure and utter bullshit.

[tomp]

90. where is the prosecution, then?

bush admitted to warrantless wiretapping on national television. believe it or not, the bush justice department had an obligation to prosecute. i wouldn't expect it of them but i expect it of obama's and i don't see it.

you're in denial.

[Soylent Brice]

4. K&R

[subcomhd]

7. Brice, are you made of people?

[Soylent Brice]

19. you interpreted incorrectly.

people eat Soylent Green. therefore my username is the equivalent of me saying, "eat me", in an orwellian/post-apocalyptic kinda way.

:evilgrin:

[subcomhd]

38. excellent

[AzDar]

5. K & R

[pleah]

8. K&R Can we prosecute these war criminals now?

Damn, do they need a ton of bricks to fall on them to make them do what is right?

[MNDemNY]

13. Nope.

[DJ13]

9. the surveillance program started after the Sept. 11, 2001

Revisionism 101.

It has been documented that it began within the first months of the Bush administration.

[OnyxCollie]

16. In February, according to former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio.

Right after the creation of the National Energy Plan Development Group, which completed its work in May of 2001, just in time for cheney to take over the terrorism task force, with Chimpy's gubernatorial chief of staff and campaign manager Joe Allbaugh at the head of FEMA.

Everything going according to plan.

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

45. I have a Link

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2007/10/nsa-asked-for-p/

[myrna minx]

88. This is a very important part of this mosaic.

Thanks for adding the link.

[MetaTrope]

53. In February 2001, isn't that also the time Bush SHUT DOWN the teams tracking Bin Laden?

A lot of people in Washington today must have had trouble coloring inside the lines when they were young.

[indimuse]

10. KNR!

!!

[indepat]

11. Now ain't all this special

:P

[Piewhacket]

14. TOO FURIOUS TO COMMENT (even though I long suspected). PROSECUTE!!!!!

[thereismore]

15. Glad it came out - not holding my breath. nt

[MSC2007]

17. ~Welcome To My World of Surveillance~

This is why BUSH wanted immunity for telecom! Congress knew all about it and did absolutely nothing. Immunity won't help you when you use Surveillance to obstruct justice in State and Federal Courts. Someone with a brain should tell AT&T and Sprint. Comcast is next on my list.

AG Holder was told several times about this yet the DOJ does nothing.

http://www.medicalsupplychain.com/pdf/Sprint.pdf

http://www.medicalsupplychain.com/pdf/AT&T%20Demand%20Letter.pdf

http://www.medicalsupplychain.com/news.htm

[Divine Discontent]

23. & frankly, when will we hear each senator & congressperson had a full

wiretap on them to keep them in line when they tried to hold the regime accountable. Wonder what they got on the ones running our country?

[No Elephants]

108. This is about something other than warrantless wiretapping, though.

Heck, Senator Kennedy was on a no fly list. (Maybe they were hoping he'd stop flying commercial airplanes to avoid the hassle.)

[No Elephants]

104. Those are all phone companies. The new information is not about warrantless wiretaps. That's been

copped to already. This is new stuff, not wiretaps.

[DavidDvorkin]

20. Over to you, President Obama

Will you investigate? Prosecute?

Will Congress hold hearings? Will witnesses be under oath?

[ibegurpard]

44. We need to look to the future

:hide:

[pinniped]

49. At the very least, a strongly worded letter will be drafted....

and read on the floor by a brave member of congrass.

[ProgressIn2008]

54. No, of course he won't. He's too busy with state secrets - complicity, really. An accomplice.

From Greenwald.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/06/obama/index.html

[Zhade]

103. And a fucking coward to boot.

NT!

[Doctor_J]

21. In any other civilized nation,

Smirk and Cheney would either have been sent to prison or strung from a lamp post by now

This is the worst excuse for a democracy ever. We don't deserve health care, if we can't even send blatant traitors and felons to prison.

[dana_b]

59. nope

but you or I would be prosecuted for possession of a little bit of pot.

[Divine Discontent]

22. The onus is on the president to order his Justice Dept to enact justice based on the law

but I don't really see that happening with all the talk of lookin' forward.

It's like telling every criminal they're off scott-free and we'll ignore what atrocities they've done because we can't look back, it will cause too much derision in the country to hold people accountable.

This is the thing I disagree most with our guy. He seems like he wants to do well, but these arguably outright evil individuals (Chainme & Rummy) walk around free while they've put tons down in the ground for dirt naps.

[Blackhatjack]

24. Think for a minute... the scope of the program shocked Bush Appointed Officials outside the loop?

The Attorney General, Director of the FBI, etc. were shocked by the scope of the program. And lower level DOJ John Woo wrote a justification for it AFTER THE FACT without telling his superiors.

Clearly these people were not just concerned with how overtly criminal this enterprise was, but also they could envision the trials of individuals for this illegal conduct and did not want to be sitting in the dock with the creators of this program.

I won't be surprised to learn that EVERYTHING has been collected on US citizens in this country, with no connection to anyone overseas, and further ... that information has been shared with the Republican Party officials to assist in creating a 'permanent Republican majority.'

THe 'shock' has not hit yet since we still know little about the scope and content of this obviously illegal program.

[Hissyspit]

25. Um, hey, America...? We needed to IMPEACH him.

And it's still not to late for ACCOUNTABILITY.

Jeez.

[defendandprotect]

39. THIS may be why they couldn't impeach him????????????????

[jbfam4]

43. You are right

They must have had something on Nancy that made her take impeachment off the table.

[No Elephants]

107. I'm with you, but what do you suggest we do, if Obama, Holder and Congress don't act.

[sakabatou]

26. Not surprising

[femrap]

27. W authorized the

surveillance of MoveOn members who organized local events. I made sure they very very very boring days watching me. I waved at them.

[Uncle Joe]

28. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, sabra.

[HughMoran]

29. Just saw this article - wanted to make sure it was kicked on DU

:)

[santamargarita]

30. How bad does the stench have to get...

before the Bush Crime Family is finally locked up?

[defendandprotect]

40. Evidently, the Bush Crime family has totally permeated government . . .!!!

[Swede Atlanta]

31. I'm shocked I tell you totally and utterly shocked........

As Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rummy and others were planning the 9-11 attacks they were already dreaming up how they would use 9-11 to change the world and give the executive essentially unlimited powers. This really doesn't surprise me at all.

[President Decider]

32. I've said many times before, by the time all the stuff comes out on the Bush administration .....

They'll wear the crown as the most evil, heinous, and ethically corrupt administration in the history of the United States of America.


bar none.

[No Elephants]

105. Until 2008 anyway. Without prosecution, the Executive Branch now officially has

immunity for anything and everything. We may be through the looking glass at this point. America may have officially jumped the shark.

[defendandprotect]

33. REMEMBER . . Wiretapping began before 9/11 . . .

Seems they were ready to go the day Bush moved in ... !!!

This was set up and ongoing seven months or more BEFORE 9/11 --

AP certainly knows that -- and they're lying.

For all we know, they had it ready to go even before that --

Their certainty of winning the White House in comments they made is spooky

when you reflect on how far they had to go to "win" it -- all the way to the SC

and fake/fascist GOP rallies.

[jgraz]

46. This cannot be repeated enough

The illegal spying was not done to "protect the country". It was done to cement a permanent Republican majority.

The Stasi would be proud.

[mvd]

62. Good point

They were well on their way to a corporate-state version of 1984 - I could tell when Cheney was picked.

[defendandprotect]

96. But that the program began BEFORE 9/11 isn't what corporate press repeats every day . . .

and therefore given the law which governs propaganda, I'd say this lie that the

wiretapping began "after" 9/11 is probably winning--!!!

[global1]

102. I Believe That They Had This All Ready To Go For Bush 41's Second Term - Except.......

he got beat by Clinton and this whole scheme was delayed 8 years. In those 8 years though - they honed their plan and then stole the presidency in 2000 with the help of SCOTUS and then initiated their plan immediately upon the decision by SCOTUS. Everything was in place - the plan for domestic surveillance, the 9/11 Pearl Harbor, the Patriot Act, the Shock & Awe Illegal Iraq War, etc.

Why do you think they went after Clinton with such a vengeance? They wanted him impeached and out of office so they could initiate the plan sooner. I fear that the 'vast right wing conspiracy' was far vaster than we'd ever believe.

Now with the revelations of the 'Family' and the Cheney Assassination Teams; the whole economic collapse in the U.S. which Paul O'Neill warned BushCo about and Cheney had him fired; the Torture; the CIA lying; etc - I tell you this is some pretty scary stuff.

You might call us at DU Conspiracy Theorists - but - just about everything we talked about during the 8 years under BushCo is turning out to be true.

I hopeful that all of this will be exposed and that some people will be held accountable and we'll have safeguards put into the system that nothing like this could ever happen again in this country. But I really fear that the government has been penetrated far too deep and that this too will go unpunished and will be swept under the table - only to rear its ugly head when the Repugs again regain the power.

[BlueJac]

34. Just another thing Obama will ignore.....

I have had it with criminals

[Just-plain-Kathy]

41. Obama not holding Bush and Cheney accountable is real disappointing. n/t

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

91. quoting Ari Fleisher

be careful what you say, be careful what you do.

[defendandprotect]

37. Any guesses on the "other secret intelligence activities" . . .????

Obviously, he put Sen. Ted Kennedy on the no-fly list . . .

Other harassments, or outright spying on his "enemies" -- ??

[NMMOM]

51. Maybe Dicks secret assassination program?

This was in the news a month or so. Can't remember who was reporting on it. Anybody know?

[defendandprotect]

92. Sy Hersh, I think . . .

[Beetwasher]

58. Either Poindexter's TIA or Cheney's Assassins, or Both

Though because it's labelled intelligence and not ops, I'd go w/ TIA.

[defendandprotect]

93. For those not familiar with TIA . . .

It is no secret that some parts of TIA lived on behind the veil of the classified intelligence budget.

Research under the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness program -- which developed technologies to predict terrorist attacks by mining government databases and the personal records of people in the United States -- was moved from the Pentagon's research-and-development agency to another group, which builds technologies primarily for the National Security Agency, according to documents obtained by National Journal and to intelligence sources familiar with the move. The names of key projects were changed, apparently to conceal their identities, but their funding remained intact, often under the same contracts.

It is no secret that some parts of TIA lived on behind the veil of the classified intelligence budget. However, the projects that moved, their new code names, and the agencies that took them over haven't previously been disclosed. Sources aware of the transfers declined to speak on the record for this story because, they said, the identities of the specific programs are classified.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/about/njweekly/stories/2006/0223nj1.htm

[Beetwasher]

101. Thanks, Good Info

:thumbsup:

[L. Coyote]

78. Deja DU: SO, how many secret domestic spy programs are there anyway, and are they legal?

SO, how many secret domestic spy programs are there anyway, and are they legal?
Jul-31-07 - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1481897

THIS THREAD: Focus - all domestic espionage programs. Purpose - provide actual context of current events.

Recent news events surrounding the Gonzales testimony re: Meuller, Comey, and Ashcroft's hospital visit, seems to convey a blissful ignorance about just what is happening on the domestic spying front, including the legal spying.

Much of the current investigation begaqn with the hacker-gate interception of all the Senate Committee on the Judiciary electronic communications, and Dem Senators began asking questions way back then, albeit without the power of the majority.

The "oversight era" could not begin until the People transformed the Congress. Now the sheer mass of corruption and abuses of power are difficult to deal with while, at the same time, attempting to stop an illegal war and run the country. Nonetheless, this issue has not yet evaporated, perhaps in no small part due to how it started with Republicans spying on the Senate Judiciary Democrats, and Dems wondering what they are up to this time. Watergate started with Republicans spying on Dems too, some might recall.

================
Feb. 2004. Hacker-Gate, "Republicans stole thousands of Democratic documents.."
This alone is way worse than Watergate. In this case the criminals actually pulled off a
their "listening" program, instead of getting caught trying to bug the Dems. And, in retrospect
from several years later, the Department of Justice or the GOP Congressional leadership did NADA!!
So, do we have the proverbial crime of the cover-up to consider too?

=======================================
Dems: Stolen memo case should go to DOJ
by kos - Tue Feb 10, 2004 at 02:02:22 PM PDT
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/2/10/17222/9423

.... Senate Dems are now demanding a criminal investigation from the Department of Justice
after Republicans stole thousands of Democratic documents from a shared Justice committee server.

From the registration only Roll Call:


Key Senate Democrats predicted Monday that the internal investigation into the
Judiciary Committee's leaked memos would be turned into a full-blown criminal investigation.

Exiting a 90-minute briefing about the probe with Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Bill Pickle, a
quartet of senior Judiciary Democrats declared that what they had heard led them to believe
a criminal inquiry, most likely with the Justice Department handling it, should occur.

"Eventually, this has to be looked at as a criminal matter," said Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)...

Leahy sat in on the Senators-only briefing with Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), Dianne Feinstein
(D-Calif.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), all of whom declined to speak of the details of where Pickle
stands in his three-month investigation ......


Republicans, in defending the theft, refer to the matter as a "technical glitch" and deny that the stolen memos amount to criminal wrongdoing .....

================
Uncensored 'Hackergate' Report Accidentally Released; Perps' Names Revealed - March 30, 2004
Report on the Investigation Into Improper Access to the Senate Judiciary Committee's Computer System
http://www.subliminalnews.com/archives/000167.php

An uncensored version of the Senate Sergeant At Arms' report on his investigation into Republican hacking of sensitive Democrat computer servers was accidentally released to journalists on March 4. The 67-page report includes the names of the partisan cyber-thieves, other key figures on both sides of the scandal, and numerous footnotes that were redacted in the public version.

A copy of the full, uncensored report ( http://cryptome.org/judiciary-sys.htm ) is available at Cryptome.org, which highlights the previously censored sections in red text. A link to a PDF of the censored version ( http://www.calpundit.com/blogphotos/Pickle%20report.pdf ) is also provided.

It is unclear just how accidental the "accidental release" of the full report actually was. A letter issued by Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who chairs the Judiciary Committee, said the release was due to "an administrative error" and that there "was no intention on anyone's part to release this version at this time..."

As reported by Subliminal News at the time ( http://www.subliminalnews.com/archives/000141.php ), the scandal -- now often referred to as "Hackergate" -- erupted publicly in late January, 2004, when the Boston Globe and other press outlets reported that Republican staff members of the US Senate Judiciary Commitee had secretly infiltrated Democrat computers for at least a year.

-----------
FULL REPORT: http://cryptome.org/judiciary-sys.htm
PDF: http://www.calpundit.com/blogphotos/Pickle%20report.pdf
Joint Statement Of Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, (R-Utah)
And Ranking Member Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) .....

=======================================
Was the Senate File Pilfering Criminal?
Monday January 26, 2004 by Ed Felten
http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/index.php?p=502

Some people have argued that the Senate file pilfering could not have violated the law, because the files were reportedly on a shared network drive that was not password-protected. (See, for instance, Jack Shafer’s Slate article.) Assuming those facts, were the accesses unlawful?

Here’s the relevant wording from the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (18 U.S.C. 1030):
Whoever … intentionally accesses a computer without authorization or exceeds authorized access, and thereby obtains … information from any department or agency of the United States … shall be punished as provided in subsection (c) …
…
the term ‘’exceeds authorized access'’ means to access a computer with authorization and to use such access to obtain or alter information in the computer that the accesser is not entitled so to obtain or alter......

=========================================
Enough of a preamble to the scandal. This is just part of the background of the current events.

[laylah]

47. I hate that man with a passion!

I am 58 years old, and never would use the word "hate" before this loser. Hate is such a hard word, one I never wanted to use/learn; HOWEVER, that little pissant taught me the meaning of "hate". Once again, he strikes. When, OH WHEN, will we be shut of that small, poor exuse of a human being, pos?

[pinniped]

48. The program likely started soon after he stole office.

He's probably got all the dirt on those congrass creeps, which is why he was able to control them effectively for all those years.

You really have to hand it to these guys. They had the 8 year master plan and implemented it perfectly.

[Hotler]

64. Don't forget the CEO's of the corporations that let...

W and face-shooter get away with it.

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

50. July 10, 2001

Remember Rice got the briefing that she didn't get but then did remember getting when she was put under oath?

Can't quite remember exactly how it went but it had something to do with 'haironfire' and bin Laden and Tenet ~ oh yeah here it is

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/911_widows_blast_Bush_Administration_over_1006.html

They also address the latest revelation from Watergate reporter Bob Woodward that then-National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice was warned of a possible attack on July 10, 2001 by then-CIA Director George Tenet.

The allegation in Woodward's book, State of Denial, is that Tenet was so concerned about the intelligence showing a possible attack that he phoned Rice and asked for an immediate meeting, which he got that same day, along with the CIA's top counterterrorism expert, Cofer Black. During the meeting, Tenet says, they expressed "in the starkest of terms" to Rice that an attack was imminent.

Rice has denied that such a meeting took place, citing the 911 Commission Report, which never mentioned any such meeting.

"It kind of doesn't ring true that you have to shock me into something I was very involved in," she stated when asked about the allegation.

In addition to Rice, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft was also warned by Tenet, as was Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, according to Woodward.

Ashcroft began to charter private jets shortly afterwards, avoiding all travel by commercial airliners in July and continuing to do so up until the attacks. According to a July 26, 2001 CBS news report, Ashcroft began flying by private plane after an FBI "threat assessment."



NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE FORWARD

Connect the dots, do the math.
Illegal wiretaps before 9/11. http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2007/10/nsa-asked-for-p
Torture
Destruction of Evidence
Thousands of missing emails, still unaccounted for.
Covert CIA outed. Only one prosecuted found guilty on 4 counts spends not a day of 2 1/2 yr. sentence behind bars ~~ to harsh claims the president.
Violations to the Constitution of the United States ~ that GodDamn piece of paper.
Political prosecutions.
Violations of International Law.
CIA program so evil even the most hardcore republican wouldn't approve and
current CIA director not briefed until last few weeks. (Recently ended)
War Crimes.
Torturing US citizen(s)

[RoccoR5955]

52. K&R Bushco, Inc. needs to spend the rest of all time in the crowbar hotel! n/t

[Kingofalldems]

56. No way, Bush committed no impeachable offenses-->

Karl Rove's DU pal said so.

[Beetwasher]

57. A. We ALREADY KNEW THIS!! TYVM. B. Does Anyone Doubt For Single Second That These Additional

activities are Poindexter's TIA????

On edit: I see many believe this may be Cheney's assassins. I guess that's possible, but I would surmise those would be classified under ops, not intel.

[peacetalksforall]

60. Self delete - dupe

[peacetalksforall]

61. Is there a lawyer here? So many people so angry with Obama - I'm borderline. The question to

the lawyer is - doesn't a case have to be made? Iron clad? Don't they need whistleblowers? Doesn't it take time - for example, what if Panetta asked each key head to list all their programs and sign it along with their superiors and anyone in an inferior position that knows what the signer knows?

Could Panetta have asked this of all program heads? And how about in State and the DOD? The two entities that have had the most to do with manufacturing and orchestration the lies are State and DOD. NIA DIA NSA and all the other acronyms were higher up than the CIA? when it came to direct communications with foreign countries when those countries aided and abetted the execution of activities. For example, using he Mossad to gather information about us and formatting it for feed into the 'poindexter' database.

We need to be able to ask and be told which lists we're on and if anyone is going to kill the access to and from the databases on U.S. citizens and residents in good standing?.

[mzmolly]

66. Reaaaaaaaaly?

:sarcasm:

[SpiralHawk]

67. The k and the r

Freaking totalitarian republicons...

[scentopine]

68. But the Obamanator's gonna fix it! Who's with me on this?

Hello....?

[darkstar]

70. Report: Bush program extended beyond wiretapping

Source: AP

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration authorized secret surveillance activities that still have not been made public, according to a new government report that questions the legal basis for the unprecedented anti-terrorism program.

It's unclear how much valuable intelligence was yielded by the surveillance program started after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, according to the unclassified summary of reports by five inspectors general. The reports mandated by Congress last year were delivered to lawmakers Friday.

President George W. Bush authorized other secret intelligence activities — which have yet to become public — even as he was launching the massive warrentless wiretapping program, the summary said. It describes the entire program as the "President's Surveillance Program."

The report describes the program as unprecedented and raises questions about the legal grounding used for its creation. It also says the intelligence agencies' continued retention and use of the information collected under the program should be carefully monitored.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090710/ap_on_go_co/us_domestic_surveillance

---

more at link

[darkstar]

71. so sorry...please delete...overlooked Sabra's post

[offog]

72. Pretty scary, eh?

Does anyone really believe that there wasn't politically-motivated espionage going on? We're talking about guys like Dick Cheney and Karl Rove here.

[many a good man]

73. Report: Bush surveillance program was massive

Source: AP

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration built an unprecedented surveillance operation to pull in mountains of information far beyond the warrantless wiretapping previously acknowledged, a team of federal inspectors general reported Friday, questioning the legal basis for the effort but shielding almost all details on grounds they're still too secret to reveal.

The report, compiled by five inspectors general, refers to "unprecedented collection activities" by U.S. intelligence agencies under an executive order signed by President George W. Bush after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Just what those activities involved remains classified, but the IGs pointedly say that any continued use of the secret programs must be "carefully monitored."

The report says too few relevant officials knew of the size and depth of the program, let alone signed off on it. They particularly criticize John Yoo, a deputy assistant attorney general who wrote legal memos undergirding the policy. His boss, Attorney General John Ashcroft, was not aware until March 2004 of the exact nature of the intelligence operations beyond wiretapping that he had been approving for the previous two and a half years, the report says.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090711/ap_on_go_co/us_domestic_surveillance

---

[lindisfarne]

74. Dupe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3963620

[many a good man]

75. You mean this one...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3963357

Sorry!

[lindisfarne]

76. .

[defendandprotect]

94. If we look at just the things that Nixon and Reagan did . . .

Nixon had his own band of ready killers -- Liddy and Hunt.

Nixon wanted to bomb Brookings Institute in order to get information.

Nixon was bribing the head of the FBI in order to cover up Watergate.

And Nixon was wiretapping EVERYONE ... friend and foe alike --
As I recall it, he was wiretapping Kissinger!!

My guess is that they were wiretapping everyone -- and possibly physical surveillance
as well - from the Vatican to the UN to Tony Blair and probably Bush was wiretapping Cheney!!
Certainly, they would have been wiretapping Tenet and Ashcroft!!
Probably also military leaders.

Iran Contra used drug money to run their secret fascist war in Nicaragua
when Congress barred them from these activities.

[L. Coyote]

77. Obama friend, Bradford A. Berenson, Ralston's USA firings lawyer, defended Bush spying.

Deja DU: May-29-07
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=995236&mesg_id=997748

'78 Law Sought to Close Spy Loophole
By David G. Savage
The Los Angeles Times
Saturday 17 December 2005
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/121705A.shtml

"I wasn't aware of this when I was at the White House, but there was a tremendous sense of urgency to take whatever steps were necessary to detect and disrupt any cells that were out there," said Bradford A. Berenson, a White House lawyer during Bush's first term. "The president was not going to let it be said that he had not used all the powers at his disposal to protect the American people."

This would not be the first time Bush has claimed that his power as commander in chief can override the law. .......

William C. Banks, a widely respected authority on national security law at Syracuse University, said the NSA revelation came as a shock, even given the administration's past assertions of presidential powers. "I was frankly astonished by the story," he said. "My head is spinning."... the president's power as commander in chief "is really limited to situations involving military force - anything needed to repel an attack. I don't think the commander in chief power allows" the warrantless eavesdropping, he said.

Mr. Berenson, the former White House associate counsel, said that in rare cases, the presidents' advisers may decide that an existing law violates the Constitution "by invading the president's executive powers as commander in chief." ........

[rschop]

79. So what exactly was this secret program?

I wonder if this was the program at the NSA working with the CIA that was set up right after the attacks on 9/11 to monitor journalists and make sure the Bush administration was not implicated in these attacks?

[L. Coyote]

80. Are ALL COMMUNICATIONS routed overseas to circumvent US law and the Constitution?

There are a 100+ links in these compilations:

Are ALL COMMUNICATIONS routed overseas to circumvent US law and the Constitution?
Nov-09-07 - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2245762

SO, how many secret domestic spy programs are there anyway, and are they legal?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1481897

[No Elephants]

106. Exactly. Amazing that this thread got to 79 posts without anyone asking that. Secret cameras?

[troubledamerican]

81. #5 "Most Viewed Story" on Yahoo underneath Paris Hilton, Bruno, U.S. Flag culture war dustup

Good for you, America. Got your priorities straight.

[Betty]

84. no matter what is revealed about this asshole

no matter how bad, NOTHING will ever be done to bring him to justice, you can count on that.

[troubledamerican]

85. Theory -- 2009 Oval Office is one inch smaller.

I theorize that a facade wall was installed prior to Cheney's departure.

The wall is a sheet of lead with highly sensitive ultrasonic microphones behind it.

The lead prevents discovery of the electronic devices -- because the Oval Office is routinely swept for "bugs".

These hidden microphones are designed to detect and transmit vibrations against the lead. These microphones do not record sound, but they record the vibrations. The vibrations are later unscrambled in near real-time in Blackwater's full-size CIA Langley HQ replica for General Hayden and General Richard Myers.

Other identical electronics installations exist throughout the White House.

Every word that is spoken within the White House is examined by Hayden, Myers, Cheney, & Rumsfeld.

[bvar22]

86. Campaign 2008, Obama, "No man is above the LAW!"....

Obama, 2009..."we need to look forward as opposed to looking backwards"

"Look forward" is the same as looking the other way.

[Hubert Flottz]

87. And I thought it was just my imagination running wild...

That feeling that somebody is always watching me when I take a sh!t or a shower.

And the GOP is the party that's always pissing and moaning about the "Government Is Too Big" and "The Government Intrudes On Our Privacy"

Bush was the best that the GOP had to offer America for a decade and now they can't even come up with anything as good as BUSH!

[BuyingThyme]

99. How long will it take for these fuckers to stop pretending that it started AFTER 9/11?

I'm so sick of this shit.

[Piewhacket]

100. revoke telecom immunity. goddamnit Obama, you screwed the pooch and pissed off all your friends.

[No Elephants]

109. I agree, but the article in the OP seems to be about something other than wiretapping and

emails. We've known about those for a while and this seems to be something new. Either that, or the articles are very misleading.

[No Elephants]

110. I think we have to separate a program that is illegal from the timing issue.

After 911, Clinton said on TV that he had told Bush during the transition that the number 1 threat facing America was Al Qaeda. And, by that, we had had an attack on the WTC and an attempted attack on LAX. And that's what we know about. And we know that Bubba engaged in extraordinary rendition before 911. So, who knows what domestic surveillance was already going on before Clinton left office?

It's understandable, IMO, if Bushco was cracking down prior to 911. What is not understandable or forgivable is illegal operations, lying to Americans, the laxity in safety measures other than simply spying, etc.

The timing, just in and of itself, does not bother me. To the ccontrary, with what we knew, I was, and remain, ticked off that we had not already put measures into place on planes, ships, etc. We were much too lax for what we know, going back to Reagan. We had warning from the Munich Olympics. the Iran hostage situation, and other attacks around the world that terrorism was a growing problem and we knew or should have known that America was a likely target. More should have been done all along, BUT legally and honestly.