Matt Drudge has CLINTON ADMINISTRATION SECRET SEARCH ON AMERICANS — WITHOUT COURT ORDER

CARTER EXECUTIVE ORDER: ‘ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE’ WITHOUT COURT ORDER

Bill Clinton Signed Executive Order that allowed Attorney General to do searches without court approval

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.

Jimmy Carter Signed Executive Order on May 23, 1979: “Attorney General is authorized to approve electronic surveillance to acquire foreign intelligence information without a court order.”

   
    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?

Previous:

NSA Surveillance Watch: Calls for Congressional Hearings

NSA Surveillance Watch: President Bush defends Spying as “A Necessary Part of My Job to Protect” Americans from Attack

The World Trade Center south tower (L) burst into flames after being struck by hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 as the north tower burns following an earlier attack by a hijacked airliner in New York City in this September 11, 2001 photo.

Reuters has Senators seek spying probe

Democratic and Republican calls mounted on Tuesday for U.S. congressional hearings into President George W. Bush’s assertion that he can order warrantless spying on Americans with suspected terrorist ties.

Vice President Dick Cheney predicted a backlash against critics of the administration’s anti-terrorism policies. He also dismissed charges that Bush overstepped his constitutional bounds when he implemented the recently disclosed eavesdropping shortly after the September 11 attacks.

Republican Sens. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Olympia Snowe of Maine joined Democratic Sens. Carl Levin of Michigan, Dianne Feinstein of California and Ron Wyden of Oregon in calling for a joint investigation by the Senate Intelligence and Judiciary Committees into whether the government eavesdropped “without appropriate legal authority.”

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said he would prefer separate hearings by the Judiciary Committee, which has already promised one, and Intelligence Committee.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, was noncommittal, saying he first wanted to further explore the matter.

Flap still does not believe there will be public Senate hearings so this announcement is nothing but BLUSTER. This is a classified project and the leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee who have the “need to know” have already been briefed and have access to the SECRET details in secure facilities.

If these Senators, particularly the Republican ones have a question of “appropriate legal authority” why do they not have their staffs draft and file a lawsuit enjoining the President.

Flap would be very interested in how, ultimately, the United States Supreme Court fails to challenge the President’s Constitutional authority to protect America from foreign attacks and subversion.

So, how about it, Senators?

Thanks Darleen!