DNC: Another (Bad) 48 Hours For President Bush

For Immediate Release
December 21, 2005

Contact: Josh Earnest - 202-863-8148

Another (Bad) 48 Hours For President Bush

Washington, DC - Two days ago, President Bush took to the podium for a
nationally televised news conference to explain why he approved a secret
program to allow America's surveillance apparatus to spy on American citizens.
Because he failed to give candid answers about the program, leaving so many
unanswered questions, the President's explanation has been met with a parade of
bad news in the last 48 hours.

"President Bush's own words, members of his own Party, and even a FISA judge
contradict and reject the President's explanation of his decision to spy on
American citizens," said Democratic National Committee Press Secretary Josh
Earnest. "The fact that President Bush told the American people that all
wiretaps require a court order two full years after ordering warrantless
wiretaps calls into question his already sinking credibility.

"Even members of the President's own party have joined Democrats in demanding
that we fight and win the war on terror in a way that protects our fundamental
freedoms and liberties. It is time for the President to end the Nixonian
secrecy and tell the American people the truth about his domestic spying
program."

48 Hours of Bad News for President Bush

Media Reports Bush Previously Promised "Court Orders" For Wiretaps
Media organizations yesterday aired video of a 2004 speech in which President
Bush assured a Buffalo audience that whenever the U.S. government seeks
wiretaps, it gets FISA approval. President Bush's campaign rhetoric directly
contradicts his actions as President. His comments were made more than two
years after he authorized a secret program to allow the government to spy on
Americans without court approval.

FISA Judge Resigns in Protest on Bush Domestic Spying Program
The Washington Post reported today that U.S. District Judge James Robertson,
one of 11 members of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court,
resigned in protest of President Bush's decision to circumvent the FISA court.
According to associates, Judge Robertson resigned after privately telling
colleagues that the domestic spying program was "legally questionable and may
have tainted the FISA court's work." Other judges have expressed concern that
President Bush made the FISA courts into a "Potemkin court." 12/21/05]

FBI Acknowledges Spying on American Citizens and Domestic Organizations
The New York Times yesterday revealed that the Bush Administration has been
abusing its authority to spy on domestic organizations. According to the New
York Times, among the groups being monitored by FBI agents were a Catholic
Workers group that promotes antipoverty efforts and social causes, a meeting of
Quakers, and PETA. A top FBI official reportedly justified spying on these
groups by saying that environmental and animal rights groups, not Al Qaida,
"posed the biggest terrorist threats in the United States." 12/20/05]

Republican Senators Demand Hearings into Legality of Domestic Spy Program
Republican Senators Chuck Hagel, Olympia J. Snowe yesterday joined Senate
Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter in calling for hearings into whether President
Bush's domestic spying program broke the law. Specter, Hagel and Snowe joined
Democratic Senators Dianne Feinstein, Carl M. Levin and Ron Wyden in calling
for a joint investigation by the Senate judiciary and intelligence panels into
the classified program.

Republican Senators Continue Blocking Patriot Act Over Civil Liberties Concerns
Expressing concerns about President Bush's commitment to America's most
fundamental civil liberties, four Republican senators joined Democrats in
calling for a temporary extension of the Patriot Act to give Congress time to
consider whether new safeguards of civil liberties are needed. With 16 Patriot
Act provisions set to expire at the end of the year, Republican Senators Larry
E. Craig, Chuck Hagel, John Sununu and Lisa Murkowski joined Democrats in
filibustering a full renewal of the Act and arguing instead for the temporary
extension.

Editorial Pages Question the President's Commitment to Civil Liberties
In the two days since President Bush's news conference, newspaper editorial
pages across America have weighed in, resoundingly rejecting President Bush's
rationale for spying on American citizens. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
called it an "extraordinary grab at power" (12/20/05); The San Francisco
Chronicle called it "reckless and arrogant" {12/19/05); the Philadelphia
Inquirer said his decision to "sidestep the Constitution" is "morally
repugnant" (12/20/05); and the Chicago Tribune said the President "overreached
badly" (12/20/05).

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A top FBI official reportedly justified spying on these
groups by saying that environmental and animal rights groups, not Al Qaida,
"posed the biggest terrorist threats in the United States." 12/20/05

Sierra Club a bigger terrorist threat than Al Qaeda..... Anybody here belong to Sierra Club? You may just be an enemy combatant and no longer have any Constitutional Rights you thought were guaranteed...No right to council, no right to confront your accusor, no right to a speedy trial, no right to the privacy of your home, papers or person...