IG Report: Bush surveillance program extended well beyond just warrentless wiretapping

September 30th, 2009 Hoyer cool to repealing wiretap immunityWASHINGTON — House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer made clear Tuesday that he would be cool to a Senate proposal to take away the retroactive immunity now given to telecommunications companies that participated in warrantless wiretapping during the George W. Bush administration.

September 23rd, 2009 Judge mulling Islamic charity wiretap lawsuitSAN FRANCISCO — The Obama administration on Wednesday kept up its fight to toss out a lawsuit alleging illegal wiretapping, arguing that moving forward with the case would jeopardize national security. U.S. Department of Justice lawyer Anthony Coppolino invoked the government's so-called state secret privilege in urging U.S.

July 16th, 2009 Bush admin official defends warrantless wiretapsWASHINGTON — John Yoo, who wrote legal memos justifying the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program, defended the measure in an essay published Thursday. Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Yoo said: "The best way to find an al-Qaida operative is to look at all e-mail, text and phone traffic between Afghanistan and Pakistan and the U.S.

July 13th, 2009 Report: CIA had plan to kill al-QaidaWASHINGTON — The Wall Street Journal reports that the CIA program concealed from Congress was a secret plan to kill or capture al-Qaida operatives. Former intelligence officials tell the Journal that the plan, which was ordered halted by agency Director Leon Panetta, was an attempt to carry out a 2001 presidential finding authorized by President George W.

July 11th, 2009 AP Interview: Hayden denies Congress not informedWASHINGTON — Former CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden angrily struck back Saturday at assertions the Bush administration's post-9/11 surveillance program was more far-reaching than imagined and was largely concealed from congressional overseers.

July 11th, 2009 Report: Bush surveillance program was massiveWASHINGTON — The Bush administration built an unprecedented surveillance operation to pull in mountains of information far beyond the warrantless wiretapping previously acknowledged, a team of federal inspectors general reported Friday, questioning the legal basis for the effort but shielding almost all details on grounds they're still too secret to reveal. The report, compiled by five inspectors general, refers to "unprecedented collection activities" by U.S.

July 11th, 2009 Report: Too few officials knew of surveillanceWASHINGTON — Not enough relevant officials were aware of the size and depth of an unprecedented surveillance program started under President George W. Bush, let alone signed off on it, a team of federal inspectors general found.

July 10th, 2009 Report: Bush officials snubbed wiretapping reviewWASHINGTON — Former Attorney General John Ashcroft and ex-CIA Director George Tenet are among the Bush administration officials who refused to be interviewed for a government report on the warrantless wiretapping program. The Bush-era program conducted electronic surveillance on calls and e-mails within the U.S.

July 10th, 2009 Report: Bush program extended beyond wiretappingWASHINGTON — The Bush administration authorized secret surveillance activities that still have not been made public, according to a new government report that questions the legal basis for the unprecedented anti-terrorism program. It's unclear how much valuable intelligence was yielded by the surveillance program started after the Sept.

July 1st, 2009 CIA report on interrogation expected WednesdayWASHINGTON — The Justice Department is expected to release on Wednesday an internal CIA report on the agency's secret detention and interrogation program during the Bush administration. The report had been expected to be made public two weeks ago but was delayed over debates about how much of it should be censored.

June 3rd, 2009 Federal judge tosses warrantless wiretap casesSAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge on Wednesday tossed out more than three dozen lawsuits filed against the nation's telecommunications companies for allegedly taking part in the government's e-mail and telephone eavesdropping program that was done without court approval. In addition, he ordered officials in Maine, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont and Missouri to halt their investigations of the telecommunication companies for their alleged participation in the once-secret surveillance programs.

May 31st, 2009 Gov't refuses to release documents in wiretap caseWASHINGTON — The Obama administration insists it has no obligation to provide access to a top secret document in a wiretapping case, setting up a showdown next week with the judge who ordered it released. Justice Department lawyers, in a response Friday with the U.S.

May 30th, 2009 Gov't refuses to release secret documentsWASHINGTON — The Obama administration insists it has no obligation to provide access to a top secret document in a wiretapping case, setting up a showdown next week with the judge who ordered it released. Justice Department lawyers, in a response Friday with the U.S.

May 14th, 2009 Former agent gets probation for Hollywood wiretapsWASHINGTON — A former FBI agent has been sentenced to one year of probation for using the bureau's computers to dig up information on Hollywood executives involved in a prominent wiretapping case. The former agent, Mark Rossini, was not working on the wiretapping case against Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano and was not authorized to look up the files.

April 23rd, 2009 Senate discloses existence of secret legal memosWASHINGTON — Five previously unacknowledged secret memos revealing new information about the Bush administration's interrogation policies remain hidden in government file cabinets, a Senate report disclosed Wednesday. It's not just the memos' contents that are classified.