White House Stands by Hayden Nomination

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/nsa_phone_records;_ylt=AvFEzb7RGZVSWuPuKKr6rW6s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--

White House Stands by Hayden Nomination

By KATHERINE SHRADER, Associated Press Writers 1 hour, 53 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The White House continued to stand by its nominee for
CIA director, Gen. Michael Hayden, amid new controversy over the surveillance programs he piloted as head of the National Security Agency.


Hayden was to meet with senators on Friday, his fifth day of face-to-face sessions on Capitol Hill since a Monday morning breakfast with Senate Intelligence Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan.

"We're full steam ahead on his nomination," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Thursday.

Lawmakers have been demanding information from the Bush administration about the NSA's efforts to collect records on millions of Americans' phone calls.

The disclosure, reported in Thursday editions of USA Today, could complicate
President Bush's bid to win Hayden's confirmation. It also renewed concerns about civil liberties and questions about the legal underpinnings for the government's actions.

...House Democrats called for a special counsel to investigate the NSA's activities.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he would call the phone companies to appear before the panel in pursuit of what had transpired. "We're really flying blind on the subject and that's not a good way to approach the Fourth Amendment," Specter said of domestic surveillance in general.

Sen. Ron Wyden (news, bio, voting record), D-Ore., an intelligence committee member, said the reports also raise questions about Hayden's credibility. "He is the architect of the program. He comes to the intelligence committee, says how concerned he is about privacy," Wyden said. "This is not what the public thought this program was all about."

The NSA is the same spy agency that conducts the controversial domestic eavesdropping program that had been acknowledged earlier by Bush. The president said last year he authorized the NSA to listen, without warrants, to international phone calls involving Americans when terrorism is suspected.

Not squeaky clean either

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/05/08/cia-nominee-hayden-linked-to-mzm-inc/

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2270344