For immediate release:
September 17, 2007
Contact:
David McGuire
(202) 637-9800 x106
WASHINGTON -- Nearly two years after news of the Administration's warrantless wiretapping first broke, the Justice Department has failed to provide Congress and the public with a full description of its surveillance activities affecting Americans. Moreover, the Administration has failed to promise that it will not go outside the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act again.
As the Senate considers the nomination of Michael Mukasey to the office of Attorney General, two key questions should be whether he commits to providing Congress the information it needs and whether he promises to advise the President to stay within the statute.
"Before Congress confirms Michael Mukasey as Attorney General, he must promise to provide a detailed account of the administration's warrantless surveillance of Americans," said Leslie Harris, President and CEO of the Center for Democracy and Technology. "Releasing the information Congress needs to make informed decisions about the laws that safeguard innocent Americans' privacy rights - and assuring Congress that he will not go outside the laws adopted by Congress - are two things the new Attorney General needs to do to win the confidence of Congress and the American people."
Earlier this year, CDT compiled its "10 Most Wanted Documents" and "10 Most Wanted Answers" relating to warrantless surveillance.
In early August, Congress passed legislation expanding warrantless surveillance authority in the United States. The new law "sunsets" in 180 days, giving Congress another chance to pass legislation that respects Americans' privacy rights.
"Earlier this year, based on incomplete information and claims of legal barriers to stopping terrorist attacks, Congress was pressured into carelessly amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The result is an unintelligible law that drastically weakens the fundamental privacy rights of all Americans," Senior Counsel and Director of CDT's Project on Freedom, Security and Technology Greg Nojeim said. "The new Attorney General bears the responsibility of correcting this mess, and he also has to promise Congress and the public that the President will not claim inherent power to ignore the laws that Congress passes."