Spy chief discloses broader program - Bush order OKd series of activities

Spy chief discloses broader program - Bush order OKd series of activities
By Dan Eggen
Copyright © 2007 by The Washington Post
August 1, 2007


WASHINGTON - The Bush administration's chief intelligence official said Tuesday that President Bush authorized a series of secret intelligence activities under a single executive order in late 2001, making clear that a controversial National Security Agency surveillance effort was part of a much broader operation than the president previously described.

The disclosure by Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, appears to be the first time that the administration has publicly acknowledged that Bush's order included undisclosed activities beyond the warrantless surveillance of e-mails and phone calls that Bush confirmed in December 2005.

In a letter to Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), McConnell wrote that the executive order following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks included "a number of ... intelligence activities" and that a phrase used by the administration -- the Terrorist Surveillance Program -- applied only to "one particular aspect of these activities, and nothing more."

"This is the only aspect of the NSA activities that can be discussed publicly because it is the only aspect of those various activities whose existence has been officially acknowledged," McConnell said.

McConnell's letter was aimed at defending Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales from allegations that he may have committed perjury by telling Congress that no legal objections were raised about the TSP. Gonzales said a legal fight in early 2004 was focused on "other intelligence activities" than those confirmed by Bush, but never connected those to Bush's executive order.

In doing so, McConnell's letter underscored that the full scope of the NSA's surveillance program under Bush's order has not been revealed. The TSP described by Bush and his aides allowed the interception of communication between the United States and other countries where one party is believed tied to Al Qaeda, so other types of communication or data are presumably being collected under the parts of the wider NSA program that remain hidden.

News reports have detailed activities linked to the program, including data mining to identify surveillance targets and the participation of telecommunication companies in turning over millions of phone records. The administration has not confirmed such reports.

Specter was non-committal on whether McConnell's explanation resolved his questions about the accuracy of Gonzales' testimony. Specter said he was waiting for a separate letter from the attorney general.

McConnell's letter leaves maneuvering room for both sides in the fracas over whether Gonzales has been truthful.

"If you think about it technically, it is pretty clear that the NSA desk that does communications intercepts is separate from the desk that does data mining of call records," said Kim Taipale, executive director of The Center for Advanced Studies in Science and Technology Policy, a New York-based nonprofit group. "Those are separate processes, and to think of them as separate programs is not a stretch."

At the same time, the activities were authorized under a single presidential order. That helps explain why many lawmakers and administration officials -- including FBI Director Robert Mueller -- viewed the wiretapping as part of a larger NSA program, rather than a separate effort, as Gonzales' testimony suggested.

"Both sides have a legitimate case, if you want to be legalist about it," Taipale said.