Bush blocks probe of eavesdropping program

U.S. President George W. Bush personally blocked an internal probe by Justice Department lawyers of the controversial domestic eavesdropping program that he authorized shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Tuesday.

Gonzales acknowledged during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that Bush would not grant the access to the secret program needed to move forward a probe, by the department’s Professional Responsibility, into the role of Justice lawyers in crafting the warrantless program.

Without access to the program, the investigation was closed in April.

The program allows the National Security Agency to intercept, without court approval, international phone calls and e-mail of people inside the United States suspected of having links to terrorists.

The disclosure of the spying program in December last year caused a political uproar in Washington, and some lawmakers were seeking an inquiry into its legality.

The 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act makes it illegal to spy on U.S. citizens in the United States without warrants issued by a secret court.

Gonzales, nevertheless, insisted on Tuesday that Bush “has the inherent authority under the Constitution to engage in electronic surveillance without a warrant.”

News reports said the White House and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter reached a deal last week, under which Bush agreed conditionally to a constitutional review by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of the warrantless eavesdropping operations. Enditem

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