Shouldnt Bush be impeached for spying on US citize

[Lissa]

Noted. 

Renewed every 45 days, Senators/Reps from both parties briefed on eight different occasions, or more often.  David Rockefeller's letter was heavily edited in the version I read today.  

George Will asked the best question:
This has apparently been going on for over two years, with full knowledge of members of the Senate Intelligence committee.  Why the hubub now?  Why not when it first started?  Silence is consent, or rather, complicity.  Rockefeller covered his own backside, and that is about it.  See

I am not content that this action is as cut and dried as you think it is, but it may be a violation of the law anyway.  

As to "naturalized citizens," Lissa, I was not referring to legal residents, but rather our sub-population of illegals.  Ten million and counting, and sadly, that is only via estimates.  It could be as high as 30 million.  They drive, they don't get insurance, and I am sure some use cell phones. 

That concern is a bit of a red herring in this matter, however, as the tension between Congress and the President is eternal and part of the Constitution's design.  I will be carefully watching the arguments in the next few days on why the Administration counsel felt it was legal, and why, now, someone has chosen for political reasons to bring this out in the open, at the risk of compromising operations underway. 

I smell a case going to the Supreme Court. 

This disagreement of a law's interpretation goes to the core roles of Executive versus Legislative Branch.  It also touches on authorities conferred during a war, even though Congress' "authorization to use force" is NOT a declaration of war.  If these intelligence activities are necessary to find and fix the enemy, so they can be killed or captured, is it within the rubric of "conduct of war?"

There is a category of activity called espionage, and fifth column activity, that is not legal for citizens to undertake.  I don't give a hoot about illegals, though I imagine most agents have some sort of cover/documentation to allow them some freedom of action. 

How is probable cause determined? 

I am still trying to understand how Clinton's staff briefed this when no war was underway and got approval.  There was probably a good reason.  I am sure there is a good article on that somewhere.

Occhi

Note the language of the authority during time of war:
.

And regarding Business records
We shall see.  I think the loophole surfing is "if a call comes from non American person who is on the 'need to find out what he is up to list' and comes to an 'American person' who isn't, does this immediately establish probable cause?

Most likely not, all manner of innocent activity such as ordering a train ticket, ordering a pizza, et cetera) does not put the citizen into a probable cause of aiding and abetting the foreign or terrorist.  But how do you know until you check the call and find out "ah, that was an order for a triple cheese supreme, this was a call to ship the det chord."

Occhi
[right][snapback]97659[/snapback][/right]

The illegality only applies to citizens being wire tapped without a warrant. An illegal can be wire tapped without a warrant. The problem is, Bush wire tapped citizens as well as non-citizens. In this case where he wire tapped citizens and did not get a warrant, he broke the law as set out by FISA. This is the problem and it is putting Bush moving along the same road as Nixon with Nixon's ordering of the DNC headquarters at the Watergate to be wire tapped (this was also the cause of why FISA came about).

Overall, what people are screaming about is the fact that Bush is wire tapping citizens (and one conviction may now get overturned because of no warrant) without a warrant which is where the illegality comes from.