Legality of Eavesdropping Questioned
By PAMELA HESS – 2 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former top lawyer for the Bush administration on Tuesday said that parts of the President Bush's controversial eavesdropping program were illegal.
There were certain aspects of the Terrorist Surveillance Program "that I could not find the legal support for," Jack Goldsmith, the former head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, told the Senate Judiciary Committee.
But he would not say exactly what law or constitutional principle the surveillance violated. Goldsmith said the White House has forbidden him from saying anything about the legal analysis underpinning the program — key details long sought by majority Democrats and some Republicans.
Goldsmith served as the Justice Department's top legal adviser to the White House from 2003 to 2004.
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http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hXoHcrFTHYJIBdn8qMLn4oWNEPuAD8S16D2O0