i like that word "impeachable act" even though Sen. Barbara Boxer is a gun grabber! Original Article Senators call for spy inquiry 2 in GOP, 3 Dems target Bush's domestic surveillance Ron Hutcheson and James Kuhnhenn Knight Ridder Newspapers Dec. 21, 2005 12:00 AM WASHINGTON - Senators of both parties on Tuesday demanded a congressional investigation into President Bush's domestic-surveillance program, even as Vice President Dick Cheney warned that the president's critics could face political repercussions. Five members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, two Republicans and three Democrats, called for a joint investigation by their panel and the Senate's Judiciary Committee, saying revelations that Bush authorized spying on U.S. residents without court approval "require immediate inquiry and action by the Senate." Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said he was discussing the possibility of hearings with various committee chairmen, but he didn't pledge to hold any. Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said he preferred that each committee conduct independent inquiries. Signing the letter requesting an inquiry were Republican Sens. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Olympia Snowe of Maine, and Democratic Sens. Carl Levin of Michigan, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Dianne Feinstein of California. "It is critical that Congress determine, as quickly as possible, exactly what collection activities were authorized, what were actually undertaken, how many names and numbers were involved over what period, and what was the asserted legal authority for such activities," the five wrote. Separately, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., had said previously that his panel would conduct hearings into the matter next month. Cheney forcefully defended the previously secret spying program, disclosed last Friday by the New York Times, and said that Bush's critics could pay a political price. "Either we're serious about fighting the war on terror or we're not," Cheney told reporters during a visit to Pakistan. But most criticism so far has been directed at Bush. Lawmakers from both parties question the eavesdropping program's legality. By setting it up, Bush bypassed a federal law that requires court approval for domestic surveillance. The spying program targeted suspected terrorists and their supporters communicating between the United States and foreign countries. The clamor over the spying came as the Senate debated renewal of the Patriot Act, the anti-terrorism law that expanded police powers. Democrats and a handful of Republicans have asked for a three-month extension of the law to add more civil liberties protections. But the law expires Dec. 31, and Bush and Frist have refused to accept the extension. Specter on Tuesday challenged Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' defense of the spying operation. Gonzales had said Monday that the administration hadn't sought to change existing law to permit such spying because it feared Congress wouldn't approve. But he also said that Congress' 2001 resolution authorizing force to prevent another terrorist attack gave the president implicit authority to order the plan. "If he didn't think he could get Congress to act, why does he think Congress intended to give those broad powers in the force resolution?" Specter asked. Meanwhile, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said she had asked presidential scholars to determine whether the spying program could be deemed an impeachable act. http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/1221surveillance21.html U.S. judge quits court over domestic-spy program Carol D. Leonnig and Dafna Linzer Washington Post Dec. 21, 2005 12:00 AM WASHINGTON - A federal judge has resigned from the court that oversees government surveillance in intelligence cases in protest of President Bush's secret authorization of a domestic-spying program, according to two sources. U.S. District Judge James Robertson, one of 11 members of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, sent a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. late Monday notifying him of his resignation without providing an explanation. Two associates familiar with his decision said Tuesday that Robertson privately expressed deep concern that the warrantless surveillance program authorized by the president in 2001 is legally questionable and may have tainted the FISA court's work. Robertson, who was appointed to the federal bench in Washington by President Clinton in 1994, , declined to comment Tuesday. Since the program was made public last week by the New York Times, the White House has sparred publicly with key Democrats over whether Congress was fully informed and allowed to conduct oversight of the operation. The news also spurred considerable debate among federal judges, including some who serve on the secret FISA court. For more than a quarter-century, that court had been seen as the only body that could legally authorize secret surveillance of espionage and terrorism suspects and only when the Justice Department could show probable cause that its targets were foreign governments or their agents. Robertson indicated privately to colleagues in recent conversations that he was concerned that information gained from warrantless NSA surveillance could have then been used to obtain FISA warrants. FISA court Presiding Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who had been briefed on the spying program by the administration, raised the same concern in 2004 and insisted that the Justice Department certify that it was not occurring.