WASHINGTON — Seeking to allay concerns from the public and Congress, the Bush administration ratcheted up its defense of a controversial domestic surveillance program Thursday, saying the power of the president to gather such intelligence during wartime was well-established and had been practiced by some of the most revered commanders in chief.
The inherent power of the president to order such warrantless surveillance, moreover, was confirmed and enhanced by Congress after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the Justice Department said in a new legal analysis defending the program. The report argued that a 1978 law regulating intelligence-gathering in the United States did not close the door on surveillance that had not been approved by a special court created by that law.
The unusual 42-page white paper marked a stepped-up effort by the administration to mollify critics and comes as public furor over the program, which was first disclosed last month, refuses to die. The Justice Department analysis mostly expounded on arguments that Bush and other officials have made about the program, though the timing of its release indicates that the White House is sensitive to the issue becoming a political liability.
The disclosure that Bush had, after the Sept. 11 attacks, secretly authorized the National Security Agency to monitor telephone calls and other communications involving possibly hundreds of people in the United States has triggered challenges by civil liberties groups and provoked widespread legal and political concerns that cross party lines.
The legal rationale for the program has been questioned by the bipartisan Congressional Research Service, and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has announced hearings on the program early next month. Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales has agreed to testify. House Democrats will hear testimony on the issue today.
There have been calls for a special prosecutor to investigate what some people, including former Vice President Al Gore, have said is blatantly illegal activity by the administration.
Vice President Dick Cheney stepped up his defense of the program Thursday as well, saying that it was within the president's constitutional authority to defend the country against its enemies. He reiterated the administration's contention that the program had helped identify and prevent terrorist attacks in the United States.
