I spent the bulk of my day today reading congressional testimony and otherwise researching the history of the NSA’s so-called Terrorist Surveillance Program (TSP). You can expect a broader piece on this issue soon…perhaps later tonight after I get back to Philly. In the meantime, the New York Times has a piece up that endeavors to provide Alberto Gonzales with a semblance of cover for his dissembling before Congress. On the issue of internal debate on the legality of the TSP:
The first known assertion by administration officials that there had been no serious disagreement within the government about the legality of the N.S.A. program came in talks with New York Times editors in 2004. In an effort to persuade the editors not to disclose the eavesdropping program, senior officials repeatedly cited the lack of dissent as evidence of the program’s lawfulness.
Of course, this was a lie. It was A Huge Lie considering that the leadership of the Justice Department threatened to resign over the issue. And, yet, the New York Times apparently swallowed this line of bullshit whole and spiked their story until over a year after the critical 2004 elections.
More later.
