Small But Important Development In The NSA Wiretapping Issue

Ken AshfordWiretapping & SurveillanceLeave a Comment

The New York Times is reporting that Representative Heather A. Wilson, a House Republican whose subcommittee oversees the National Security Agency, broke ranks with the White House on Tuesday and called for a full Congressional inquiry into the Bush administration’s domestic eavesdropping program.

The "defection" (if you can call it that) of a single Republican on this issue is not news — as the NYT suggest, she is not the only Republican with "discomfort" about the program.  But this might be important:

By withholding information about its operations from many lawmakers, she said, the administration has deepened her apprehension about whom the agency is monitoring and why.

In other words, her "beef" isn’t just about the legal basis for the program per se, but also her apprehension that the program is NOT what Bush Administration says it is (it may not be a "terrorist surveillance program").

"HEH" UPDATE:  Here’s what Bush said about Heather Wilson in 2002:

The thing I appreciate, Heather, is she is there for the right reason: to serve the people, to represent the people of New Mexico…I’m proud of the fact that Heather puts our country first, that she understands the importance of our nation and what it stands for.

Let’s hope so.