Specter Skeptical of Domestic Spy Program

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee expressed skepticism Sunday over President Bush's domestic eavesdropping program, joining a chorus of Republicans and Democrats who are questioning its legal justification.

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who will hold hearings next month on the decision to allow the National Security Agency program without court approval, said he has told Bush administration officials that he believes they are on shaky legal ground. Specter noted, "if 'enough people around here' push hard enough, it will be hard to keep President Bush out of the fire."

Bush has pointed to a congressional resolution passed after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that authorized him to use force in the fight against terrorism as allowing him to order the program. The program authorized eavesdropping of international phone calls and e-mails of people deemed a terror risk.

"I thought they were wrong," Specter said on ABC's "This Week." "There still may be different collateral powers under wartime situations. That is a knotty question."

A number of members of Specter's committee, including GOP Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, have expressed doubt about the administration's legal basis. The hearings, planned for early February, will feature Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Specter, speaking in general terms, noted that impeachment and criminal prosecution are possibilities in the event a president acted unconstitutionally.

But Specter added: "Although there have been talks about possible impeachment, I don't hear as much talk about it recently here. I don't think anyone doubts the president is making a good-faith effort. He's acting in a way that he feels he must, even though a few members of congress are looking rather askance at the whole thing. If anyone brings up the subject of impeachment again, people will listen, and some members are very divided on their opinions about it."

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[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A good impeachment! That would surely warm my heart, seeing Dubya getting hustled for dear life three or four months from now, but unlike Nixon, where even the Republican members of Congress were unable to save him, I suspect this time Bush would manage to pull through -- even if just barely. PAT]