FISA and Domestic Spying

The domestic spying program authorized by the President and conducted by the National Security Agency was first reported by the New York Times on December 16, 2005.  The next day, President Bush admitted that secret, domestic wiretapping has been conducted without warrants since late 2001, and that he has issued secret orders in this regard more than 30 times since then. We now know that the Administration has secretly spied on Americans without attempting to comply with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and that the legal justifications it has offered for doing so have admittedly "evolved" over time and are patently flimsy.  Sen. Leahy, therefore, has no hesitation in condemning the President for secretly and systematically violating the law.