Justice department investigates spying program tip off

Justice department investigates spying program tip off
The United States Justice Department has started an inquest into the leak to the media, of a domestic surveillance program sanctioned by President Bush.

On December 16th New York Times reported that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been carrying out, post-9/11, unwarranted spying in the country. Soon after the revelation, President Bush admitted to have authorized the surveillance, saying that it was carried out on people “with known links to al-Qaeda and related terrorist organizations”.

The newspaper had said in its report that some of the officials were willing to talk about the eavesdropping operation as they were concerned about it legitimacy. The Justice Department is investigating as to how the New York Times got hold of the classified information about the secret operation. “We are opening an investigation into the unauthorized disclosure of classified materials related to the NSA,” said an official of the Department on Friday.

According to the New York Times report, the NSA has been intercepting telephone calls and emails of people who are suspected to have links with terrorist groups. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), passed in 1978, however prohibits such eavesdropping without the permission of a special court. Many Civil Rights groups have slammed the eavesdropping program, deeming it as a breach of the Constitution. Both the Republicans as well as the Democrats have questioned why the President did not seek approval from a secret FISA court. “FISA says it's the exclusive law to authorize wiretaps,” said Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin. “This administration is playing fast and loose with the law in national security. The issue here is whether the president of the United States is putting himself above the law, and I believe he has done so.”

The move of the Justice Department to probe the leak has also been condemned. “President Bush broke the law and lied to the American people when he unilaterally authorized secret wiretaps of U.S. citizens. But rather than focus on this constitutional crisis, Attorney General (Alberto) Gonzales is cracking down on critics of his friend and boss,” said Anthony Romero, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union. “Our nation is strengthened, not weakened by those whistle-blowers who are courageous enough to speak out on violations of the law,” said Romero hailing the disclosure and those responsible for it.