The domestic spying program authorized by the President and
conducted by the National Security Agency was first reported by
the New York Times
on December 16, 2005. The next day, President Bush admitted
that secret, domestic wiretapping has been conducted without
warrants since late 2001, and that he has issued secret orders
in this regard more than 30 times since then. We now know
that the Administration has secretly spied on Americans without
attempting to comply with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Act (FISA) and that the legal justifications it has offered for doing
so have admittedly "evolved" over time and are patently flimsy.
Sen. Leahy, therefore, has no hesitation in condemning the
President for secretly and systematically violating the law.
The Congressional Research
Service provides members of Congress with non-partisan research and
analysis of legislation and issues. It's my goal to make all of
these reports available to the tax payer. You can read more
about my efforts
here.
Until then, I've made the below reports available in PDF form to help
you research this issue further.
Statements, Letters, and Releases of Sen. Patrick Leahy
Concerning the NSA's Domestic Spying Program
