Federal judge, Vaughn R. Walker, ruled that Bush's warrant-less wiretapping was illegal. Out of courtesy- or something- to the former administration, Obama's administration has made efforts to brush the policy under the rug. No such luck. The official opinion stated that the program violated a 1978 statute requiring court approval (aka a warrant) for all domestic surveillance. Under this policy, the National Security Agency kept tabs on international emails and phone calls despite the myriad American laws that deem such actions unlawful and the fact that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act requires a warrant. Both the Bush and Obama administrations claimed that allowing lawsuits dealing with the program to continue would expose secrets. (Seriously? Since when did it become kosher to take advise from Nixon? NIXON?) The President, even during times of war, is not above the Constitution. Obeying the law is not optional. The current administration has taken steps to reduce the use of the "state secret" line. Now, senior officials must formally approve any assertion before it can be used in court. Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler stated that this ensures the defense will be used only when "absolutely necessary to protect national security." Yeah, sure. Even I doubt that.
Fun fact: The New York Times exposed the NSA program. Maybe that's why they took the Pentagon Papers approach.
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