Thought Theater

Hoekstra Questions Legality Of Bush Surveillance genre: Polispeak & Six Degrees of Speculation

Representative Pete Hoekstra, the powerful Republican Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, sent President Bush a letter in May expressing his concerns that the failure of the administration to provide Congress with information and updates on secret intelligence activities may have been illegal. The entire New York Times article can be found here.

From The New York Times:

The letter from Representative Peter Hoekstra, Republican of Michigan, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, did not specify the intelligence activities that he believed had been hidden from Congress.

But Hoekstra, who was briefed on and supported the National Security Agency domestic surveillance program and the Treasury Department tracking of international banking transactions, clearly was referring to programs that have not been publicly revealed.

The letter seems to support the recent remarks of Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, whereby she indicated that the committee wasn't notified of the international banking surveillance program until the Bush administration became aware of the fact that the New York Times intended to publish a story on the secretive program. Hoekstra's letter may also undermine efforts by Republicans to focus negative attention on the media outlets (particularly The New York Times) responsible for the release of such classified information. Clearly, if the programs are illegal, the media has merely served to expose the Bush administrations abuse of power. Hoekstra further explained his position on Sunday on Fox News. Reuters has that story here.

From Reuters:

"I take it very, very seriously otherwise I would not have written the letter to the president," Hoekstra said.

"This is actually a case where the whistle-blower process was working appropriately and people within the intelligence community brought to my attention some programs that they believed we had not been briefed on. They were right," said Hoekstra, a close ally of Bush.

"We asked by code name about some of these programs. We have now been briefed on those programs but I wanted to reinforce to the president and to the executive branch and the intelligence community how important by law is the requirement that they keep the legislative branch informed of what they are doing," Hoekstra said.

In the letter, Hoekstra said the lack of disclosure possibly constituted a "breach of responsibility by the administration, a violation of the law, and, just as importantly, a direct affront to me and the members of this committee who have so ardently supported efforts to collect information on our enemies."

The letter highlights the oft made accusation that the Bush administration has sought to expand the authority of the executive branch beyond its intended levels, a subject which has been previously discussed here at Thought Theater. Hoekstra's letter signals that Republicans may well agree. The letter seems to indicate that Hoekstra is not alone in his concerns.

From The New York Times:

Hoekstra's blunt letter is evidence of a rift between the White House and Republican leaders in the House of Representatives over the administration's perceived indifference to congressional oversight and input on intelligence matters. Hoekstra wrote that he had shared his complaints with the House speaker, J. Dennis Hastert, Republican of Illinois, and that the speaker "concurs with my concerns."

Hoekstra's views on oversight appear to be shared by some other intelligence committee members.

"I think the executive branch has been insufficiently forthcoming on a number of important programs," Representative Heather Wilson, Republican of New Mexico, said in an interview.

She would not discuss any programs on which the committee had not been briefed, but she said that in the Bush administration, "there's a presumption that if they don't tell anybody, a problem may get better or it will solve itself."

She said she shared "deep concerns" about the pace and direction of intelligence reforms overseen by Negroponte's office. "We have some troubled programs," she said.

It appears that Republicans may finally be realizing that the Bush administration has a demonstrated pattern of withholding information until such time as they are forced to provide details or explanations. With many Republicans up for reelection in November, they can ill afford to appear to be supportive of measures that seek to deceive the public or to undermine Congressional authority. They must also avoid the appearance that Congress has been weak in carrying out its duties within a system of checks and balances if they intend to distance themselves from a President with alarmingly low voter approval numbers.