President Bush admitted Saturday he personally authorized a secret eavesdropping program in the U.S. more than 30 times since the Sept. 11 attacks and vowed to keep doing it in the face of mounting criticism over the program’s violation of American freedom and rights to privacy.
Exemptions in the Patriot Act would keep its powers alive for many investigations, including all continuing terrorist probes, even if Congress allows 16 provisions to expire Dec. 31.
President Bush has personally authorized a secretive eavesdropping program in the United States more than three dozen times since October 2001, a senior intelligence official said Friday night.
President Bush put the best possible face on it, inviting Sen. John McCain to the Oval Office and asserting “we’ve been happy to work with him to achieve a common objective, and that is to make it clear to the world that this government does not torture …”
A bipartisan group of senators blocked reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act Friday, citing concerns about an erosion of civil liberties.