McCain: Bush wiretapping 'ambiguous'
Posted: Saturday, June 07, 2008 11:27 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
Security
From NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann
MIAMI, FL – The question of whether or not President Bush overstepped his constitutional power by authorizing warrantless checks of Americans' international communications after 9/11 is "ambiguous," McCain said yesterday. But, he added, he hopes not to dwell on the issue.
"It's ambiguous as to whether the president acted within his authority or not," McCain told reporters at a press conference in the Florida Everglades yesterday.
The question of presidential authority has been a hot topic in past weeks, as key surveillance legislation has been gummed up in Congress. A sticking point has been the question of whether telecommunications companies can be prosecuted retroactively for participating in the post-9/11 surveillance. McCain, who believes that they should not face such penalties, called for the quick passage of that legislation, saying of the wiretapping debate that "the whole issue can be resolved by passing the FISA bill."
A New York Times story yesterday described McCain's views on warrantless wiretapping as increasingly aligned with those of the Bush Administration, according to the writing of a key adviser, Doug Holtz-Eakin. Holtz-Eakin wrote in a letter to the National Review that Sen. McCain believes that the president did not overreach when he empowered the National Security Agency to monitor telephone calls and emails without issuing warrants after 9/11.
McCain said today that, in his own presidency, he would abide by laws passed by Congress; he has criticized the Bush Administration in the past for its use of presidential "signing statements," for example, that permit non-enforcement of Congressional action.
But about on the matter of the president's past actions in the wake of the 2001 attacks, he urged a look to the future. "I'm not interested in going back," he said. "I'm interested in addressing the challenge we face today of trying to everything we can to counter organizations and individuals that want to destroy this country."
"So, there's ambiguity about it," he later added. "Let's move forward."
