Hatch: What secrets? What objections?

[Sparkly]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060517/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_phone_records;_ylt=ArTgUO5TgNzLUUXcchgMsK6s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3OXIzMDMzBHNlYwM3MDM-

Hatch: Court Briefed on Bush Surveillance

By KATHERINE SHRADER, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 37 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Two judges on the secretive court that approves warrants for intelligence surveillance were told of the broad monitoring programs that have raised recent controversy, a Republican senator said Tuesday, connecting a court to knowledge of the collecting of millions of phone records for the first time.
(snip)
Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said that at least two of the chief judges on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court had been informed since 2001 of White House-approved National Security Agency monitoring operations.

"None raised any objections, as far as I know," said Hatch, a member of a special Intelligence Committee panel appointed to oversee the NSA's work.
(snip)
Asked if the judges somehow approved the operations, Hatch said, "That is not their position, but they were informed."

WHY only two, which two (how decided), and would Hatch even know if they raised any objections? Oh, that's right -- it's a SECRET court! They do not raise questions in public about secretive matters, but once they're no longer secret (damn leakers!) well.... Let's look at the last time they got news of what BushCo was doing.

Judges on Surveillance Court To Be Briefed on Spy Program
By Carol D. Leonnig and Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, December 22, 2005; Page A01

The presiding judge of a secret court that oversees government surveillance in espionage and terrorism cases is arranging a classified briefing for her fellow judges to address their concerns about the legality of President Bush's domestic spying program, according to several intelligence and government sources.

Several members of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court said in interviews that they want to know why the administration believed secretly listening in on telephone calls and reading e-mails of U.S. citizens without court authorization was legal. Some of the judges said they are particularly concerned that information gleaned from the president's eavesdropping program may have been improperly used to gain authorized wiretaps from their court.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/21/AR2005122102326.html

Wednesday December 21, 2005
Judge Resigns From FISA Court in Bush Protest

D.C. District Court Judge James Robertson, one of the 11 secret judges of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, has resigned in the wake of the allegations that Bush couldn't even be bothered to get one of these rubber-stamped FISA surveillance orders, despite the fact that the government could monitor conversations for 72 hours before even applying for a warrant if the circumstances so warranted.

http://talkleft.com/new_archives/013471.html

[Why Syzygy]

1. K&R .

How high they fly.

[magellan]

2. Two out of eleven is a landslide victory in Bush**'s democracy.