Froomkin is good but no replacement for you. I need my daily fix of Maha, ple-e-e-e-se
There is an issue related to FISA and the pending litigation I do not understand. The administration wants to be able to intercept FOREIGN communications that happens to be routed through the US, or so I would conclude from the interview I saw on Sunday. But who is brining suits that they want immunity from? Is the ACLU representing individuals from Saudi Arabia? If there have been NO interception of calls involving AMERICANS, here on US soil, then I am inclined to think the cases SHOULD be dismissed. If any AMERICAN was spied on, if the half of the conversation inside the US was recorded, then the administration claims are bogus. If NSA can show that ONLY the half of the conversation that originated OUTSIDE the US was wiretapped, then they are (barely) on legal ground.
But to go back to my point, and it is not technical. Who is bringing suit? Americans? Were Americand wiretapped? Were American phone numbers in the NSA database? If the truth is what the administration is describing, then I do not see that the ACLU litigants HAVE any grounds to sue; they were not harmed. My opinion is that if the spying was not riddled with illegal excesses, there would not be a push for immunity.
Maha,
Froomkin is good but no replacement for you. I need my daily fix of Maha, ple-e-e-e-se
There is an issue related to FISA and the pending litigation I do not understand. The administration wants to be able to intercept FOREIGN communications that happens to be routed through the US, or so I would conclude from the interview I saw on Sunday. But who is brining suits that they want immunity from? Is the ACLU representing individuals from Saudi Arabia? If there have been NO interception of calls involving AMERICANS, here on US soil, then I am inclined to think the cases SHOULD be dismissed. If any AMERICAN was spied on, if the half of the conversation inside the US was recorded, then the administration claims are bogus. If NSA can show that ONLY the half of the conversation that originated OUTSIDE the US was wiretapped, then they are (barely) on legal ground.
But to go back to my point, and it is not technical. Who is bringing suit? Americans? Were Americand wiretapped? Were American phone numbers in the NSA database? If the truth is what the administration is describing, then I do not see that the ACLU litigants HAVE any grounds to sue; they were not harmed. My opinion is that if the spying was not riddled with illegal excesses, there would not be a push for immunity.