Gonzales defends domestic spying

WASHINGTON — President Bush launched warrantless domestic spying to bypass a cumbersome legal process that slowed eavesdropping on Americans and foreigners communicating with suspected al-Qaida operatives overseas, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Tuesday.

Gonzales detailed frustrations with the wiretap approval process under the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in the Bush administration's latest defense of National Security Agency surveillance launched after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The administration's public relations offensive came as a new nationwide Gallup Poll showed 51 percent of Americans deemed domestic spying without court approval "wrong" and 58 percent backed appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate. Some earlier polls showed broader support for surveillance to protect the homeland.

Gonzales' remarks to Georgetown University law students set the stage for a scheduled visit to NSA headquarters at nearby Fort Meade, Md., by the president on Wednesday where he was expected to characterize NSA monitoring as "a terrorist surveillance program" rather than an intrusion into the privacy of ordinary Americans.

FISA prohibits eavesdropping within the United States without approval by an 11-judge Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

It provides for emergency wiretaps for 72 hours without court approval, subject to certification by the attorney general that "probable cause" exists that the target of the surveillance is a foreign agent. After the 72 hour emergency period, officials must obtain a warrant from the court.

Gonzales said Bush ordered NSA spying without court approval in part because administration officials were saddled with a "substantial," time-consuming process for complying with FISA procedures on hot-pursuit intercepts.

Gonzales complained that the FISA process required the attorney general to determine "in advance that a FISA application for that particular intercept will be fully supported and will be approved by the court" before authorizing an emergency wiretap without court approval.

Gonzales said that FISA and administration procedures required an a NSA intelligence officer to get approval for an eavesdropping warrant request from NSA lawyers, Justice Department lawyers and finally the attorney general.

"That review process itself can take precious time," Gonzales said. "It is imperative for national security reasons that we can detect reliably, immediately and without delay whenever communications associated with al-Qaida enter or leave the United States."