Trust us, no domestic surveillance without a court order

who do they think they're kidding...?

Bush Administration Aiming To Ease Surveillance Concerns

The Bush administration, facing withering criticism over its temporary foreign intelligence wiretap law, has launched a campaign to assure Democratic lawmakers that the law will not result in domestic surveillance without a court order, and at the same time it has indicated that it is willing to consider changes.

The effort comes as Congress prepares to tackle a broad overhaul of the government's foreign intelligence wiretap authority.

In a letter sent to Capitol Hill yesterday, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth L. Wainstein said the Protect America Act, passed in August under intense White House pressure, does not authorize physical searches of homes, domestic mail or people's personal effects and computers, and that Justice Department lawyers "do not think" it authorizes the collection of medical or library records.

He said that "to the extent that this provision could be read to authorize the collection of business records of individuals in the United States . . . we wish to make very clear that we will not use this provision to do so."

"To put it plainly," Wainstein said, "the Protect America Act does not authorize so-called domestic wiretapping without a court order, and the executive branch will not use it for that purpose."

But key Democratic lawmakers said their concerns are not allayed.

"The Bush administration admits that the Protect America Act can be read to let them collect Americans' business records," said Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. "They simply ask us to trust them not to. Trust is not good enough -- that's why we need to have court oversight."

another fresh load of bollocks...

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