soc.culture.asian.american

White House Says Phone Wiretaps Back on "For Now"
Reuters

Saturday 23 February 2008

Washington - The Bush administration said on Saturday U.S.
telecommunications companies have agreed to cooperate "for the time
being" with spy agencies' wiretaps, despite an ongoing battle between
the White House and Congress over new terrorism surveillance
legislation.

The Justice Department and the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence issued a joint statement saying wiretaps will resume
under the current law "at least for now."

"Although our private partners are cooperating for the time being,
they have expressed understandable misgivings about doing so in light
of the ongoing uncertainty and have indicated they may well
discontinue cooperation if the uncertainty persists," the statement
said.

On Friday U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey and Director of
National Intelligence Michael McConnell said telecommunications firms
have been reluctant to cooperate with new wiretaps since six-month
temporary legislation expired last weekend. As a result, they told
Congress, spy agencies have missed intelligence.

Democrats accused the Bush administration of fear-mongering and
blamed it for any gaps.

President George W. Bush has said he would not compromise with the
Democratic-led Congress on his demand that phone companies be shielded
from lawsuits for taking part in his warrantless domestic spying
program.

The measure passed by the Senate would provide retroactive lawsuit
immunity to firms which cooperated with warrantless wiretaps that Bush
authorized after the September 11 attacks. But the House of
Representatives has opposed it, and Democratic leaders of both
chambers said they would try to find a compromise.

Democratic leaders of congressional intelligence and judiciary
committees issued a statement on Friday saying they were committed to
passing new legislation and urged Bush to support an extension of the
temporary law. Bush has said he would hold out for a permanent
overhaul of the 1978 surveillance law.