Back in May, Perrspectives described how inquiries by both the FCC and the DOJ into illegal domestic surveillance by the Bush NSA had been blocked. With Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' testimony today before the Senate Judiciary Committee, we have a much clearer picture as to why. In a nutshell, President Bush personally insisted that the probes be stonewalled.
The following exchange between Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Gonzales shows President Bush's iron hand at work in blocking the needed security clearances for the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR):

SPECTER: It was highly classified, very important and many other lawyers had access. Why not OPR?
GONZALES: The president of the United States makes the decision.

In a separate letter to the Committee, the Attorney General claimed:

"The president decided that protecting the secrecy and security of the program requires that a strict limit be placed on the number of persons granted access to information about the program for non-operational reasons. Every additional security clearance that is granted for the TSP increases the risk that national security might be compromised."

But OPR head H. Marshall Jarrett in a series of memos to Gonzales also released today destroyed that fallacious argument from the Attorney General. OPR's requests had been shut down, while "a large team of attorneys and agents" pursuing a criminal inquiry into the NSA revelations had no such difficulty:

"In contrast, our repeated requests for access to classified information about the NSA program have not been granted. As a result, this Office, which is charged with monitoring the integrity of the Department's attorneys and with ensuring that the highest standards of professional ethics are maintained, has been precluded from performing its duties."

News of President Bush's Nixonesque stonewalling should allay any lingering doubts regarding the folly of Senator Specter's so-called compromise bill over illegal NSA domestic spying. But instead of waging a constitutional battle to halt the illegality by the Bush White House, Specter seeks to codify it.
For the latest NSA scandal news, statutes and other key documents, visit the Perrspectives NSA Domestic Spying Scandal Resource Center.