Specter Skeptical of Domestic Spy
Program/Impeachment is Remedy
Yahoo News/AP
January 15, 2006
WASHINGTON - The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee expressed
skepticism Sunday over President Bush's domestic eavesdropping program, joining
a chorus of Republicans and Democrats who are questioning its legal
justification.
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who will hold hearings next month on the decision
to allow the National Security Agency program without court approval, said he
has told Bush administration officials that he believes they are on shaky legal
ground.
Bush has pointed to a congressional resolution passed after the attacks of
Sept. 11, 2001, that authorized him to use force in the fight against terrorism
as allowing him to order the program. The program authorized eavesdropping of
international phone calls and e-mails of people deemed a terror risk.
"I thought they were wrong," Specter said on ABC's "This Week." "There still
may be different collateral powers under wartime situations. That is a knotty
question."
A number of members of Specter's committee, including GOP Sen. Sam Brownback
of Kansas, have expressed doubt about the administration's legal basis. The
hearings, planned for early February, will feature Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales.
Specter, speaking in general terms, noted that impeachment and criminal
prosecution are possibilities in the event a president acted
unconstitutionally.
But Specter added: "I don't see any talk about impeachment here. I don't
think anyone doubts the president is making a good-faith effort. He's acting in
a way that he feels he must."
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