Details on American Phone Wiretapping.

Warrantless phone wiretapping was one of the many unconstitutional and illegal acts that the Bush Administration authorized after the White House had been asleep at the wheel and allowed the worst attack on American soil to occur a month after they received a memo stating the Osama bin Laden was determined to strike in the United States.

The illegal and warrantless wiretapping program was started by the White House and the National Security Agency which was allowed to tap the phone of any and all Americans without obtaining a warrant in clear violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

The warrantless wiretapping program was a part of the countless unconstitutional actions of the Bush Administration, the most infamous one of which being the U.S. Patriot Act which authorized the Federal Government to ignore whole parts of the American Constitution.

Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Bush Administration illegally suspended habeas corpus for the first time since Abraham Lincoln did it during the Civil War, along with authorizing torture for “enemy combatants” detained at Guantanamo Bay and secret CIA prisons.

Pelosi on Wiretapping

NSA Wiretapping

Following the September 11 terrorist attacks the Bush Administration and the neocons in the White House could not impose the power of the President on the country and the Constitution fast enough.

One of the many ridiculous programs created after September 11 was the NSA warrantless wiretapping program which was authorized by the President and allowed the National Security Agency to wiretap the phone of any American without first obtaining a warrant.

This act was illegal because the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 mandated that all wiretaps must be approved by a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court warrant.

Instead of punishing the administration, the Congress voted to strip the mandate for a warrant from the original bill.

Patriot Act

Not long after the September 11 attacks, the President introduced the U.S. Patriot Act but more appropriately called the Anti-Constitution.

The cleverly named U.S. Patriot Act actually stands for a much more chilling sounding Uniting And Strengthening America By Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept And Obstruct Terrorism Act.

One of the many controversial parts of the act is one that states that law enforcement agencies can detain anyone that they believe to be a terrorist or in some way linked to terrorists and detain them for an indefinite period of time without providing access to a lawyer.

The Act also allowed the Federal Bureau of Investigations to search any and all telephone, E-Mail, and financial records of anyone that they want without the need for any authorization from a court.

Habeas Corpus

A completely ridiculous act was the suspension of habeas corpus which occurred almost immediately after September 11.

Habeas corpus had only been suspended twice and never on the entire country yet the Bush Administration did so and justified their actions by saying an the suspension clause did not clearly allow habeas corpus for everyone which it does unless you are an idiot.

The Bush Administration also authorized torture, an act clearly prohibited by the Geneva Convention of which the United States is an integral part.