President Bush said Thursday that the government is not illegally eavesdropping on U.S. phone conversations, although Democrats accused the administration of improperly collecting phone records.
“We’re not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans,” Bush told reporters in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House.
“The government does not listen to domestic phone calls without court approval,” he added. “The privacy of ordinary Americans is fiercely protected in all our activities.”
Bush was responding to a USA Today story that said the National Security Agency has gathered the phone records of tens of millions of Americans from AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth.
Democrats pounced on the story as further evidence of wrongdoing by an administration already under fire for eavesdropping on the international phone conversations of suspected terrorists.
“Today’s shocking disclosures make it more important than ever for the Republican Congress to end its complicity in the White House cover-up of its massive domestic surveillance program,” said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.
“If the telephone companies and individuals in the administration with knowledge of this abusive surveillance refuse to testify voluntarily, they should be subpoenaed and required to testify under oath,” he said. “It’s time for the White House to come clean.”
Bush neither confirmed nor denied the veracity of the USA Today story, but he defended his aggressive prosecution of the war against terrorism.
“Our international activities strictly target al-Qaida and their known affiliates,” he said. “Al-Qaida is our enemy, and we want to know their plans.”
He added: “The intelligence activities I authorized are lawful and have been briefed to appropriate members of Congress, both Republican and Democrat.”
Although the USA Today article focused on the collection of U.S. phone records, Bush used it as an opportunity to reiterate his defense of the terrorist surveillance program.
“If al-Qaida or their associates are making calls into the United States or out of the United States, we want to know what they’re saying,” he said.
It was not immediately clear how the new revelation would affect next week’s confirmation hearings for Bush’s nominee to head the CIA, Gen. Michael Hayden, who was in charge of the terrorist surveillance program. Republicans said they relish the chance to debate national security with Democrats before the November elections.
