Complying with FISA involved too much "paperwork" for NSA chief

By Lee Russ

Thursday, December 22, 2005 at 10:55 AM

If you want to laugh yourself silly and get so depressed you wish you were laughing, pretty much at the same time, check out America Blog's piece on the former National Security Administration Director's explanation of why they didn't bother to get after-the-fact FISA approval for the secret wiretaps.

A little piece:
"The whole key here is agility," [Gen. Michael Hayden] said at a White House briefing before Bush's news conference. According to Hayden, most warrantless surveillance conducted under Bush's authorization lasts just days or weeks, and requires only the approval of a shift supervisor. Hayden said getting retroactive court approval is inefficient because it "involves marshaling arguments" and "looping paperwork around."