Via Atrios, the Justice Department reported to the Senate Intelligence committee in 2002 that FISA was working well and that it "opposed a legislative proposal to change FISA to make it easier to obtain warrants that would allow the [NSA] to listen in on communications involving non-U.S. citizens inside the United States." From Knight-Ridder.

Update: From the Post:

"It's entirely inconsistent with their current position," said Philip B. Heymann, a deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration who teaches law at Harvard University. "The only reason to do what they've been doing is because they wanted a lower standard than 'probable cause.' A member of Congress offered that to them, but they turned it down."

"Entirely inconsistent" is the polite, academic way of saying big fat liars.

Posted by Laura at January 25, 2006 10:58 PM