Unanswered Questions
In his testimony at the February 6, 2006, Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Wartime Executive Power, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales refused to answer the following questions.
Transcripts of the hearing are here: Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania):
- Why not take it to the FISA Court? What do you have to lose if you're right?
- If you have information that you're submitting to the FISA Court in support for a warrant, you tell them that it was obtained from this program?
- Do you tell the FISA Court that you got it from the program? I want to know if they are declining to issue warrants because they are dissatisfied with the program.
Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont):
- Was the first one of the president's authorizations done before he signed the USA Patriot Act?
- Does this law -- you're the chief law enforcement officer of the country -- does this law authorize the opening of first-class mail of U.S. citizens, yes or no, under your interpretation?
- I'm asking, when did you decide that the authorization for use of military force gave you the power to do this? I mean, you were White House counsel then. What date did it give you the power?
- When did you reach the conclusion that you didn't have to follow FISA?
- Did you tell anybody you had already determined -- it was your testimony here today that you made the determination, virtually immediately -- that you had this power without using FISA?
- Did we -- were we authorizing you to go into people's medical records here in the United States by your interpretation?
- If the president believed the program was necessary and legally justified, why did he shut it down?
- Does he have the power under your authority to wiretap Americans within the United States if they're involved in Al Qaida activity?
Senator Joseph Biden (D-Delaware):
- How many of them are there? There's thousands of people who work for NSA. It would be useful for us to know. Are there two people, five people, 25 people, 250 people, 1,000 people?
- Can you assure us, General, that you are fully, totally informed and confident that you know the absolute detail with which this program is being conducted? Can you assure us you personally, can assure us that no one is being eavesdropped upon in the United States other than someone who has a communication that is emanating from foreign soil by a suspected terrorist, Al Qaida or otherwise?
- You said that -- you cited the assertions made by Defense Department, by General Hayden, by the FBI that this has identified Al Qaida terrorists. Have we arrested them?
Senator Herbert Kohl (D-Wisconsin):
- If the administration investigates an American for terrorism using this program and finds nothing -- and, of course, news reports have indicated that this happens in the vast majority of the time -- then what is done with the information collected? Does the administration keep this information on file somewhere? Is it disposed of? What happens with this information?
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California):
- Has the president ever invoked this authority with respect to any activity other than the program we're discussing, the NSA surveillance program?
- Can the president suspend the application of the Posse Comitatus Act legally?
- In other words, can he (President Bush) engage in otherwise illegal propaganda?
Senator Charles Schumer (D-New York):
- I'm asking you what the administration would think in terms of exercising any claim of privilege. You're not going to have -- I'm sorry, here -- you're not going to have different rules for yourself, an administration advocate, then for these people who might be administration dissenters in one way or another, are you?
- Would he engage in electronic surveillance when the phone calls both originated and ended in the United States if there were Al Qaida suspects?
- Has there been a situation brought to your attention where there were Al Qaida calls -- someone suspected of being part of Al Qaida or another terrorist group calling someone from the United States to the United States?
- How about wiretaps? Under the legal theory, can the government, without ever going to a judge, wiretap purely domestic phone calls?
- I'm asking because, under the AUMF theory, you were allowed to do it for these wiretaps. I just want to know what's going on now. Let me just -- has the government done this? You can get back to me in writing.
- Placed a listening device -- has the government, without every going to a judge, placed a listening device inside an American home to listen to the conversations that go on there?
- In 2004, there were 1,758 applications. Why can't we know how many under this program? Why should one be any more classified than the other?
Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin):
- Are there other actions under the use of military force for Afghanistan resolution that, without the inherent power, would not be permitted because of the FISA statute? Are there any other programs like that?
- Have you or anyone at the Justice Department provided any telephone companies or ISPs with these certifications in the course of implementing the NSA's program?
Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Massachusetts):
- But since September 11th, has the president authorized any other surveillance program within the United States under his authority as commander in chief or under the authorization for use of military force in Afghanistan?
- And have you provided a certification to the telephone companies that all statutory requirements have been met?
Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas):
- And this would include these sort of operations we've read about,
about data-mining operations? Would that include those sorts of
operations or are those totally a separate type of field?