Gen. Hayden is a Liar

Bush Watch Home: "Gen. Hayden is a Liar, and Implies Bush Is One, Too, Says NYT : 'The hearing produced important — and disquieting — news about President Bush's decision to spy on Americans without a warrant....The National Security Agency's domestic surveillance, which General Hayden ran while he led the agency, loomed over the proceedings. General Hayden could not explain coherently why he testified in 2002 that he had no authority to listen to Americans' phone calls without a warrant, when the president had already given him that authority....General Hayden's appearance also made it clear that the one warrantless spying operation Mr. Bush has acknowledged — listening to calls between the United States and other countries — is not the only one. And he testified that he did not, as Mr. Bush has said, design the N.S.A. operation, which violates the 28-year-old legal requirement for a warrant for any domestic wiretapping....The hearing drove home again that the spying is being conducted outside the constitutional system of checks and balances....Attorney General Alberto Gonzales enthusiastically subscribes to Mr. Bush's imperial vision of the presidency, as well as the president's disregard for the balance of powers. Mr. Gonzales's department recently quashed an investigation by its ethics office into the conduct of the Justice Department officials who approved the spying program....The issue is whether [collecting intelligence] will be done legally, and whether Congress will step up to this challenge of its duties and powers. General Hayden's hearing did not provide much hope on either front.'

Observed: Friday May 19"