Exposing NSA Warrantless Wiretapping

Bush’s Law: Eric Lichtblau on Exposing the NSA’s Warrantless Wiretapping Program and How the White House Pressured the New York Times to Kill the Story.

Democracy Now! 

In a national broadcast exclusive, we speak with New York Times reporter Eric Lichtblau about his new book, “Bush’s Law: The Remaking of American Justice.” Lichtblau won the Pulitzer Prize for exposing the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program in December 2005. He reveals the inside story of the New York Times’ decision to delay publication of the story for more than a year after intense lobbying from the White House.

After months of debate, Congress has yet to authorize a new domestic surveillance law amidst a standstill over immunizing telecommunications companies that aided government spying. Last month, the Democratic-led House narrowly passed a bill excluding the immunity provision despite a threatened veto by President Bush. Bush wants the House to mimic the Senate version, which re-authorizes National Security Agency spying while shielding telecom companies from retroactive lawsuits.

The NSA launched its warrantless spy program in October 2001. But it took over four years for the program to become publicly known—finally revealed by the New York Times in December 2005. My next guest is one of the two New York Times reporters who broke the NSA story. Eric Lichtblau has just come out with a new book, “Bush’s Law: The Remaking of American Justice.”

The book’s new disclosures include an account of fierce anxieties within the Bush administration on the program’s legality when it began. Eric Lichtblau also reveals the inside story of the New York Times’ own decision to delay publication of the story for more than a year after intense lobbying from the White House.

Eric Lichtblau won a 2006 Pulitzer prize along with James Risen for breaking the NSA spy story. He joins me now from Washington, DC. This is his first broadcast interview following the book”s publication.

Eric Lichtblau, won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting for his stories on the NSA’s wiretapping program in the New York Times. His new book is “Bush’s Law: The Remaking of American Justice.”

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