WASHINGTON — The Bush administration, reversing itself on one of its most controversial counterintelligence measures, said Wednesday that it would no longer secretly eavesdrop on the international calls of terrorism suspects in this country without first getting a court order.
The so-called Terrorist Surveillance Program was launched weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks and remained secret until it was exposed in news reports in late 2005, provoking a public outcry. The program was cited by civil liberties groups and others as a leading example of how the administration's war on terrorism was infringing on privacy rights of ordinary citizens.
The change, announced in a letter from U.S. Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales to senior members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, appears to be a concession to mounting political and legal challenges to the program.
The administration had been attempting to get congressional authority for the National Security Agency's warrantless eavesdropping, but the chances of that happening in a Democratic Congress are considered slim. And legal challenges to the program are working their way through the courts.
Gonzales said the administration already had obtained "orders" from a special court that reviews surveillance requests, allowing it to continue the wiretapping in some form. But it was not clear whether the secret tribunal, known as the FISA court after the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that created it, had agreed to give the administration substantial latitude or whether major changes were made.
After the existence of the program was reported in the New York Times, administration officials defended the warrantless process as necessary, saying the court reviews were too cumbersome.
In his letter Wednesday, Gonzales wrote: "The orders the government has obtained will allow the necessary speed and agility while providing substantial advantages. Accordingly, under these circumstances the president has determined not to reauthorize the Terrorist Surveillance Program."
Gonzales and other officials refused to divulge details of the orders that the FISA court adopted Jan. 10. A senior Justice Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged there had been "modifications" in the program. But the official said the court did not grant blanket approval to the program, indicating that officials would continue to have to establish probable cause of individual links to terrorism, at least in some cases. The surveillance orders are good for 90 days and can be renewed.
