NSA Surveillance Watch: Carter and Clinton Executive Orders Authorizing Secret Searches Without a Warrant
Matt Drudge has CLINTON ADMINISTRATION SECRET SEARCH ON AMERICANS — WITHOUT COURT ORDER
CARTER EXECUTIVE ORDER: ‘ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE’ WITHOUT COURT ORDER
Clinton, February 9, 1995: “The Attorney General is authorized to approve physical searches, without a court order”
Clinton Claimed Authority to Order No-Warrant Searches
WASH POST, July 15, 1994: Extend not only to searches of the homes of U.S. citizens but also — in the delicate words of a Justice Department official — to “places where you wouldn’t find or would be unlikely to find information involving a U.S. citizen… would allow the government to use classified electronic surveillance techniques, such as infrared sensors to observe people inside their homes, without a court order.”
Deputy Attorney General Jamie S. Gorelick, the Clinton administration believes the president “has inherent authority to conduct warrantless searches for foreign intelligence purposes.”
Secret searches and wiretaps of Aldrich Ames’s office and home in June and October 1993, both without a federal warrant.
[Federal Register page and date: 60 FR 8169; February 13, 1995] THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release February 9, 1995 EXECUTIVE ORDER 12949 - - - - - - - FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE PHYSICAL SEARCHES By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including sections 302 and 303 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ("Act") (50 U.S.C. 1801, et seq.), as amended by Public Law 103- 359, and in order to provide for the authorization of physical searches for foreign intelligence purposes as set forth in the Act, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Pursuant to section 302(a)(1) of the Act, the Attorney General is authorized to approve physical searches, without a court order, to acquire foreign intelligence information for periods of up to one year, if the Attorney General makes the certifications required by that section. Sec. 2. Pursuant to section 302(b) of the Act, the Attorney General is authorized to approve applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court under section 303 of the Act to obtain orders for physical searches for the purpose of collecting foreign intelligence information. Sec. 3. Pursuant to section 303(a)(7) of the Act, the following officials, each of whom is employed in the area of national security or defense, is designated to make the certifications required by section 303(a)(7) of the Act in support of applications to conduct physical searches: (a) Secretary of State; (b) Secretary of Defense; (c) Director of Central Intelligence; (d) Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; (e) Deputy Secretary of State; (f) Deputy Secretary of Defense; and (g) Deputy Director of Central Intelligence. None of the above officials, nor anyone officially acting in that capacity, may exercise the authority to make the above certifications, unless that official has been appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. WILLIAM J. CLINTON THE WHITE HOUSE, February 9, 1995.
EXERCISE OF CERTAIN AUTHORITY RESPECTING ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE
EO 12139
23 May 1979
By the authority vested in me as President by Sections 102 and 104 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1802 and 1804), in order to provide as set forth in that Act (this chapter) for the authorization of electronic surveillance for foreign intelligence purposes, it is hereby ordered as follows: 1-101. Pursuant to Section 102(a)(1) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1802(a)), the Attorney General is authorized to approve electronic surveillance to acquire foreign intelligence information without a court order, but only if the Attorney General makes the certifications required by that Section. 1-102. Pursuant to Section 102(b) of the Foreign Intelligence Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1802(b)), the Attorney General is authorized to approve applications to the court having jurisdiction under Section 103 of that Act (50 U.S.C. 1803) to obtain orders for electronic surveillance for the purpose of obtaining foreign intelligence information. 1-103. Pursuant to Section 104(a)(7) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1804(a)(7)), the following officials, each of whom is employed in the area of national security or defense, is designated to make the certifications required by Section 104(a)(7) of the Act in support of applications to conduct electronic surveillance: (a) Secretary of State. (b) Secretary of Defense. (c) Director of Central Intelligence. (d) Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. (e) Deputy Secretary of State. (f) Deputy Secretary of Defense. (g) Deputy Director of Central Intelligence. None of the above officials, nor anyone officially acting in that capacity, may exercise the authority to make the above certifications, unless that official has been appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. 1-104. Section 2-202 of Executive Order No. 12036 (set out under section 401 of this title) is amended by inserting the following at the end of that section: ''Any electronic surveillance, as defined in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, shall be conducted in accordance with that Act as well as this Order.''. 1-105. Section 2-203 of Executive Order No. 12036 (set out under section 401 of this title) is amended by inserting the following at the end of that section: ''Any monitoring which constitutes electronic surveillance as defined in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 shall be conducted in accordance with that Act as well as this Order.''. Jimmy Carter.
And what do the Democrat Senators who desire congressional hearings on this matter have to say now?
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3 Comments
Tyler
Hi Flap – this story has been fact-checked and debunked.
Fact Check: Clinton/Carter Executive Orders Did Not Authorize Warrantless Searches of Americans
http://thinkprogress.org/2005/12/20/drudge-fact-check/
here are a couple key paragraphs:
“That section requires the Attorney General to certify is the search will not involve “the premises, information, material, or property of a United States person.†That means U.S. citizens or anyone inside of the United States.
The entire controversy about Bush’s program is that, for the first time ever, allows warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens and other people inside of the United States. Clinton’s 1995 executive order did not authorize that. ”
And oh look at today’s news – they’ve now been caught spying on Americans talking to Americans.
Secret spying captured some domestic calls: report (Reuters)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051221/ts_nm/security_eavesdropping_calls_dc
Without any warrants. Even though they could get warrants up to 72 hours AFTER the wiretap from the FISA board.
Why are you defending these guys, Flap? This Administration is spying on Americans with no oversight, trampling the Constitution and obliterating our civil rights, and has been clearly stated, will continue to do so. How can anyone – Conservative, Republican, Libertarian, Progressive – not be alarmed at the assault on our rights as citizens of this nation?
Does that sound like the America that you grew up a part of? Or just the Nixon years?
Flap
Tyler,
Flap printed the Executive orders. Your SPIN = spin only. And your opinion.
Why is Flap defending these guys: Thank You for Wiretapping
Read it all.
Flap
Flap
Tyler,
You got it wrong, buddy!
And check out my latest post on the NSA Surveillance Flap:
NSA Surveillance Watch: President Had Legal Authority to OK Taps
Flap