Debunk the liars: Clinton/Carter Did Not Authorize Warrentless searches

[niceypoo]

I have heard it in my political chatroom. I have heard it from the right wing pundits on tv. Its all over FOX. "Clinton did it too". Oh yeah? Im sick of the lies.

Fact Check: Clinton/Carter Executive Orders Did Not Authorize Warrantless Searches of Americans

What Drudge says:

Clinton, February 9, 1995: “The Attorney General is authorized to approve physical searches, without a court order”

What Clinton actually signed: http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/eo/eo-12949.htm

Section 1. Pursuant to section 302(a)(1) <50 U.S.C. 1822(a)> of the Act, the Attorney General is authorized to approve physical searches, without a court order, to acquire foreign intelligence information for periods of up to one year, "if the Attorney General makes the certifications required by that section."

That section requires the Attorney General to certify is the search will "not" involve “the premises, information, material, or property of a United States person.” That means U.S. citizens or anyone inside of the United States. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode50/usc_sec_50_00001822----000-.html

Drudge pulls the same shit with Carter.

http://thinkprogress.org/2005/12/20/drudge-fact-check/

STOP THE LIES IN THEIR TRACKS!

[rodeodance]

1. lies WORK! simple as that!

[still_one]

2. because the democrats do NOT come out to contradict it

[leveymg]

3. There are many ways to get around the FISA warrant requirement.

Some are legal, some aren't. Every day, the NSA scoops up mountains of warrantless data that originated with US persons. Always has been, always will. The important point to bear in mind is: how was the information collected used? Also, did it actually protect the American people? In the case of Bush, there was a catastrophic failure of both the counter-terrorism system and of Constitutional processes - that was not the case with either Carter or Clinton.

For more information on how this has worked and failed, see: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0310/S00257.htm