FISA JUDGE RESIGNS; WARRANTS TAINTED BY ILLEGAL PROGRAM

In his Monday press conference, Bush repeatedly made a distinction between “detection” and “monitoring” and kept trying to reassure reporters that he had used the FISA court properly when it was appropriate. What he didn’t mention is that the “detection” was illegal, thus tainting the “monitoring” warrants issued by the FISA courts based on this “detection.” A FISA court judge has resigned in protest. It’s becoming apparent that Bush’s illegal program was used to gather evidence that was then used to obtain FISA court-approved warrants. Those warrants were by definition tainted by illegal activity, and the end result was spying by the NSA on the American people, and the entanglement of the FISA court into a scandal they bent over backwards to avoid. Nobody wants to be the judge who used illegal evidence; nobody wants to be the dupe that helped destroy the reputation of what they consider an important institution of high integrity (the FISA court).

There is now a bipartisan call for investigation of this. When the public founds out how widespread and indiscriminate this was, there will be hell to pay.