On Fox, "confused" Hill falsely claimed "the law that lets" U.S. officials "listen in to phone calls from overseas by known terrorists expired two weeks ago"
SUMMARY: On Fox News' America's Pulse, E.D. Hill falsely asserted, "[T]he law that lets them [U.S. intelligence agencies] listen in to phone calls from overseas by known terrorists expired two weeks ago." In fact, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) did not expire; what expired were revisions to FISA under the Protect America Act, which, among other things, expanded the government's authority to eavesdrop on Americans' domestic-to-foreign communications without a warrant.
Discussing President Bush's February 28 press conference urging Congress to reauthorize the Protect America Act (PAA) on that day's edition of Fox News' America's Pulse, host E.D. Hill asserted, "Our intelligence agencies, which failed us on 9-11, are charged with stopping terrorists before they strike us again. But the law that lets them listen in to phone calls from overseas by known terrorists expired two weeks ago." Hill went on to say, "I'm confused as I assume a lot of Americans are. Our intelligence agents now can't listen in on phone calls made overseas by known terrorists." In fact, as Media Matters for America has repeatedly documented, the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which established the federal government's underlying statutory authority to eavesdrop on the communications of suspected terrorists, has not expired; what expired were revisions to FISA under the PAA, which, among other things, expanded the government's authority to eavesdrop on Americans' domestic-to-foreign communications without a warrant.
Media Matters has documented numerous media outlets conflating the 1978 FISA law and the PAA, thereby advancing the false assertion -- promoted by supporters of the Bush administration's warrantless domestic spying program and parroted by the media -- that since the PAA expired on February 15, the government no longer has the authority to spy on suspected terrorists. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) noted in a February 13 statement that "the underlying Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which provides for the surveillance of terrorists and provides that in emergencies surveillance can begin without warrant, remains intact and available to our intelligence agencies." Further, a February 14 New York Times article reported:
The lapsing of the deadline would have little practical effect on intelligence gathering. Intelligence officials would be able to intercept communications from Qaeda members or other identified terrorist groups for a year after the initial eavesdropping authorization for that particular group.
If a new terrorist group is identified after Saturday, intelligence officials would not be able to use the broadened eavesdropping authority. They would be able to seek a warrant under the more restrictive standards in place for three decades through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
From the February 28 edition of Fox News' America's Pulse:
HILL: Now, we all know that the threat to our country is real. Our intelligence agencies, which failed us on 9-11, are charged with stopping terrorists before they strike us again. But the law that lets them listen in to phone calls from overseas by known terrorists expired two weeks ago. A new version is on the table, but it's being held up because it would give phone companies legal immunity. Meanwhile, intelligence agents are losing vital information, they say. So the president is again calling on lawmakers in Washington to take action.
BUSH [video clip]: I know there's a threat to the country. And the American people expect our Congress to give the professionals the tools they need to listen to foreigners who may be calling into the United States with information that could cause us great harm.
HILL: Senator Edward Kennedy blasted back, saying the president's position has nothing to do with protecting Americans and everything to do with sweeping under the rug illegal activity by his administration and his corporate partners.
Senator Kit Bond, the vice chair of Senate Select Intelligence Committee, is my guest right now. Senator Bond, thank you for being with us.
BOND: Thank you, E.D. Appreciate the chance to be on.
HILL: Well, I'm confused as I assume a lot of Americans are. Our intelligence agents now can't listen in on phone calls made overseas by known terrorists.
"But the law that lets them listen in to phone calls from overseas by known terrorists expired two weeks ago."
That's the one I was referring to. What, you can't see what I'm thinking?
"But (part of)the law that lets them listen in to phone calls ( to or)from overseas by (anybody)expired two weeks ago."
There, that's all it took. She was confused.
When both sides of the aisle in the senate sub-committees are saying this is not the case, you know you're a Bush propagandist.
Admittedly rhetorical, but...
Are there any "known terrorists" left in the world who are stupid enough to use a private telephone? Much less use any phone to call a suspected accomplice in the U.S?
I find the reasoning to eliminate wiretap warrants to be more and more ridiculous all the time.
Amy Goodwin in "The Exception To The Rulers" devotes a whole chapter to Psyops(Psychological warfare).She says in the chapter entitled "Psyops Comes Home"..."Psops is the military way of winning the hearts and minds of a population." According to the DOD she says..."psyops is intended to induce or reinforce foreign attitudes and behavior favorable to the U.S...by planning and conducting operations to convey information to audiences to influence their emotions, motives, objective reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of foreign governments,organizations,groups, and individuals." She says the 1948 Smith-Mundt Act "prohibited the domestic dissemination of U.S. government propaganda..."I suggest people read this book especially this chapter and ask exactly what our government in particular this administration is doing. I think enough red flags have been raised, especially in light of this "illegal" wiretapping of citizens, and torture and denial of habeus corpus to name a few.
First David Brooks says on Meet the Press"I don't really understand the case" involving McCain and the letters he wrote to the Federal Communications Commission about an issue involving Paxson Communications.
Now Hill is confused about FISA.
It seems like they draw a blank when their political beliefs run smack into the wall of reality.
SAVE DEMOCRACY, VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT!!
This is the tenor of all the network coverage, and news coverage of this issue that we are not listening to terrorists because of the twilight of the Protect America Act. Let's not make this difficult for those whom are unaware. This is a lie.
We have had the ability to 'DATA MINE" for decades. The idea that we would allow our government to "DATA MINE' all calls in America, all emails in America, all wireless calls in America to sort through who they are interested in without any form of oversight either from Congress or the Courts, a secret court as allowed under FISA, 72 hours in advance of any warrant or not, would be the very definition of Fascists Big Brother subversion of our Constitution, and civil liberty to have any privacy.
No government in the world that calls itself a democracy would ever assert this insanity would be needed to protect it's security. We have no idea who the Bush Administration has been listening to for the past 6years since May of 2001. Thats right, 4 months before the 9/11/2001 attack!!
No terrorist, no terror cell, no plot has been foiled or discovered, no help has been proven to be a result of the civil liberty we surrendered to Al Quada! The real beneficiary has been the Bush Administration being able to stifle the Congressional investigations, to push through the Patriot Act, Military Commissions Act, and avoided any serious attempt to investigate the mountainous evidence of war profiteering, along with a endless list of corruption and incompetance.
This not to mention how the White House and Republican National Committee has managed to distroy millions of emails from the White House in clear violation of the law with impunity.
Happy Thoughts;
Dan Grady