Gore Says Bush Wiretapping Could be
Impeachable Offense
ABC News
By TEDDY DAVIS
January 16, 2006
Jan. 16, 2006 — In an impassioned speech about President Bush's
warrantless domestic wiretapping program, former Vice President Al Gore said in
Washington, DC, on Monday that "the President of the United States has been
breaking the law repeatedly and persistently."
Citing Bush Administration policies on torture, rendition and detentions,
the winner of the 2000 popular vote said the President's "unlawful"
eavesdropping program was part of a "larger pattern" of "seeming indifference
to the Constitution."
Asked by ABC News following his speech whether President Bush's domestic
spying program constituted an impeachable offense, Gore said it might be and
pointed to one of the three Articles of Impeachment that the House Judiciary
Committee approved against President Nixon on July 27, 1974.
"That's a legal determination for the Congress to make," Gore told ABC News.
"But Article II of the impeachment charges against President Nixon was
warrantless wiretapping that the President said was 'necessary' for national
security."
"It can be" an impeachable offense, he added.
The domestic eavesdropping program authorized by President Bush following
the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, bypasses a special federal court whose approval
is required under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Ever since the New
York Times revealed the secret program last month, the Bush Administration has
claimed that the circumvention of the FISA court was justified by arguing, in
part, that Congress implicitly authorized the surveillance with the post-9/11
Authorization to Use Military Force.
Gore's speech drew fire from the president's party on Monday. Tracey
Schmitt, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, issued a
statement criticizing the former Vice President, stating Gore has an "incessant
need to insert himself in the headline of the day" and has a "lack of
understanding of the threats facing America."
But Gore is not alone in arguing that the warrantless eavesdropping
authorized by President Bush conflicts with existing law and hinges on weak
legal arguments. The non-partisan Congressional Research Service reached a
similar conclusion earlier this month in a 41-page legal analysis.
While appearing on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" on Sunday, Senate
Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) said he, too, does not agree
with the White House view that Congress effectively authorized the surveillance
with its post-9/11 resolution.
A Bi-Partisan Problem
Sen. Specter and Gore part company, however, on the question of whether a
president might possess special inherent powers as Commander-in-Chief that
would make the National Security Agency domestic spying program permissible in
wartime. Whereas Gore is confident that the president does not possess such
power, Sen. Specter is hoping to explore the issue when the Senate Judiciary
Committee holds hearings on the legality of the President's program next
month.
In his Constitution Hall remarks on Monday, Gore did not confine his
criticism to members of the other party. He criticized both Republican and
Democratic members of the so-called "Gang of Eight" who were secretly briefed
on the NSA program but did not take action to stop the President's "illegal
activities."
"Though I sympathize with the awkward position in which these men and women
were placed, I cannot disagree with the Liberty Coalition when it says that
Democrats as well as Republicans in the Congress must share the blame for not
taking action to protest and seek to prevent what they consider a grossly
unconstitutional program," Gore said.
The Liberty Coalition is the "trans-partisan" civil liberties group that
co-sponsored Gore's speech along with the American Constitution Society.
Supreme Court Criticism
In his Martin Luther King Day remarks, Gore also criticized President Bush
for nominating Supreme Court Justices whom he believes will not serve as an
adequate check on the executive.
"Whether you support his confirmation or not — and I do not — we
must all agree that he will not vote as an effective check on the expansion of
executive power," Gore said with respect to Judge Samuel Alito. "Likewise,
Chief Justice Roberts has made plain his deference to the expansion of
executive power through his support of judicial deference to executive agency
rulemaking."
With regards to specific recommendations, Gore called upon congressional
candidates to make the appointment of a Special Counsel to investigate domestic
eavesdropping an issue in the 2006 elections.
He also appealed for new whistleblower protections, comprehensive hearings
in the House and Senate, and no renewal of the Patriot Act until adequate
constitutional safeguards are added. He also wants telecommunications companies
to "cease and desist" their "complicity" in this "apparently illegal invasion
of the privacy of American citizens."
Gore's biggest standing ovation came when he said it was "simply an insult"
to those who "came before us" to "imply that we have more to be fearful of than
they."
In an effort to show that criticism of President Bush's spying program
reaches across party lines, Gore was supposed to be introduced by ex-Rep. Bob
Barr (R-GA), a former House manager in the impeachment trial of then-President
Bill Clinton. Since leaving Congress in 2003, Barr has emerged as an outspoken
critic of the effect the Bush Administration's anti-terror policies are having
on civil liberties.
The image of the odd bedfellows did not materialize, however, when Barr's
satellite connection failed.
Teddy Davis is an ABC News field producer and co-author of The Note. He
covers politics for the network's television, radio, and Internet
platforms.
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