Administration defends secret warrants, spy satellites
Intelligence chief says administration will lose half of its ability to track and understand terrorists if changes to surveillance law are halted.
Senior Bush administration officials on Monday defended their support for broad counterterrorism powers, including the ability to spy on suspected terrorists without warrants and plans to open an office to coordinate the use of space satellites for domestic purposes.
National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that the administration needs to keep powers it gained from a recent temporary change to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
The new authorities, passed by lawmakers last month, let the administration spy on communications between suspected terrorists that are routed through U.S. telecommunications infrastructure without warrants. They also allow the administration, without warrants, to spy on communications that involve U.S. citizens.
McConnell said the administration would lose 50 percent of its ability to track and understand suspected terrorists if the changes were halted. He said U.S. officials used the new powers to help German officials stop a suspected terrorist cell last week.
The law also gives liability protections to telecom companies that assist the government in spying. Because of that, McConnell said the administration has not lost any cooperation from carriers. But he urged lawmakers to give retroactive liability protection to carriers that assisted the administration in the past. Congress is considering such legislation.
FBI Director Robert Mueller added that the biggest concern for his agency is terrorists coming to the United States from Europe.
Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff defended the administration's move to create an office that coordinates access to satellites and space technology for domestic purposes, including law enforcement support. The office is expected to open Oct. 1.
Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, expressed concerns about how privacy rights and civil liberties of U.S. citizens will be protected. He said the department has failed to brief his staff on the project. "This raises further suspicions concerning the department's intent. And it's not clear what this new office will do," Akaka said.
Chertoff said the office appears to be a bigger deal than it is. He said the new office is designed to create a disciplined way for space imagery and technology to be used for domestic purposes. He said nothing will change in terms of existing authorities or restrictions for using satellites.
But senators noted problems with at least one existing counterterrorism tool: terrorist watch lists. The Justice Department's inspector general reported this month on problems with the quality assurance of watch lists, increasing the chance that innocent persons could be misidentified.
The lists also omitted some known suspected terrorists, the IG said. Mueller said the FBI, which is responsible for managing the lists, is looking at adding personnel to help ensure their accuracy, as well as ways to improve the redress process for people who are wrongly listed.