Judge Reportedly Resigns Over U.S. Spy Program

[bigpoppanils]

Judge Reportedly Resigns Over U.S. Spy Program

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 11:20 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal judge has resigned from a special court set up to oversee government surveillance, apparently in protest of President Bush's secret authorization of a domestic spying program on people with suspected terrorist ties.

U.S. District Judge James Robertson would not comment Wednesday on his resignation, but The Washington Post reported that it stemmed from deep concern that the surveillance program Bush authorized was legally questionable and may have tainted the work of the court.

An aide to Robertson said the resignation letter submitted to Chief Justice John Roberts was not being released. Robertson did not step down from his district judgeship in Washington.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan would not discuss Robertson's resignation or the reasons cited for his departure. ''Judge Robertson did not comment on the matter and I don't see any reason why we need to,'' McClellan said.

Robertson was one of 11 members of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which oversees government applications for secret surveillance or searches of foreigners and U.S. citizens suspected of terrorism or espionage. Robertson's term was to end in May.

''This was definitely a statement of protest,'' said Scott Silliman, a former Air Force attorney and Duke University law professor. ''It is unusual because it signifies that at least one member of the court believes that the president has exceeded his legal authority.''

Ruth Wedgwood, a Johns Hopkins University professor and defender of many Bush administration policies in the terror war, said that service on the special court is voluntary.

''If Judge Robertson had strong feelings that he thought would interfere with the needed objectivity, one could understand his decision,'' she said.

The court was established by Congress in 1978 and its members, appointed by the chief justice, do their work in private.

Quoting colleagues of Robertson, the Post said the judge had indicated he was concerned that information gained from the warrantless surveillance under Bush's program subsequently could have been used to obtain warrants under the FISA program.

Robertson was appointed a federal judge by President Clinton in 1994. Chief Justice William Rehnquist later appointed Robertson to the FISA court as well.

Robertson has been critical of the Bush administration's treatment of detainees at the U.S. naval prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, most memorably in a decision that sidetracked the president's system of military tribunals to put some detainees on trial.

Robertson's resignation was reported hours after Vice President Dick Cheney strongly defended the surveillance program and called for ''strong and robust'' presidential powers.

Cheney -- a former member of congress, defense secretary and White House chief of staff under President Ford -- said executive authority has been eroding since the Watergate and Vietnam eras.

''I believe in a strong, robust executive authority and I think that the world we live in demands it,'' Cheney said.

''I would argue that the actions that we've taken there are totally appropriate and consistent with the constitutional authority of the president. ... You know, it's not an accident that we haven't been hit in four years,'' the vice president said, speaking with reporters Tuesday on Air Force Two en route from Pakistan to Oman.

Republicans said Congress must investigate whether Bush was within the law to allow the super-secret National Security Agency to eavesdrop -- without warrants -- on international calls and e-mails of Americans and others inside the United States with suspected ties to al-Qaida.

''I believe the Congress -- as a coequal branch of government -- must immediately and expeditiously review the use of this practice,'' said Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine.

Snowe joined three other members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, including Nebraska Republican Chuck Hagel, in calling for a joint inquiry by the Senate judiciary and intelligence committees.

Bush and his top advisers have suggested senior congressional leaders vetted the program in more than a dozen highly classified briefings. Several Democrats agreed said they were told of the program, but did not know the full details and had concerns.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/politics/AP-Domestic-Spying.html?hp&ex=1135227600&en=77223fa479f3cef3&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[destruction]

Good move.

[ou812]

According to sources (the right-wingers at NewsMax to be precise) the judge was a Clintonista. So it's actually the honorable thing that he stepped down, depending on the outcome he could have been subject to a good amount of criticism perhaps claiming that he tried to shaft Dubya......................

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/12/21/95451.shtml

[drlogic]

According to sources (the right-wingers at NewsMax to be precise) the judge was a Clintonista. So it's actually the honorable thing that he stepped down, depending on the outcome he could have been subject to a good amount of criticism perhaps claiming that he tried to shaft Dubya......................

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/12/21/95451.shtml

Great story!

For the critics to whom this article might ruffle a few feathers, I would simply think differently to help better understand this horse-n-pony show.

Just imagine the script were flipped. If you really don't like Bush and find comfort and reason in every anti-Bush story. Take this story and flip it. Imagine it was a Bush 41 appointee, etc..etc..etc....If you were a Dem and Clinton supporter, would you be pointing out that the judge was a Bush appointee and all the curious little shennanigans that came w/ it? Would you question this judge and his politics?

My guess is, probably!