Warrantless wiretapping and the candidates
Posted by Jacque on June 4th, 2008
Wired News reports that despite his previous statements such as, “I think that presidents have the obligation to obey and enforce laws that are passed by Congress and signed into law by the president, no matter what the situation is,” John McCain now says that Bush’s policy on warrantless wiretapping is correct. McCain’s earlier statement appeared in an interview with the Boston Globe a few months ago. See the Wired story for more details.
On Monday, Doug Holtz-Eakin, a McCain adviser, cast McCain’s views thusly:
“[N]either the Administration nor the telecoms need apologize for actions that most people, except for the ACLU and the trial lawyers, understand were Constitutional and appropriate in the wake of the attacks on September 11, 2001. [...]
We do not know what lies ahead in our nation’s fight against radical Islamic extremists, but John McCain will do everything he can to protect Americans from such threats, including asking the telecoms for appropriate assistance to collect intelligence against foreign threats to the United States as authorized by Article II of the Constitution.”
On the other side, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has indicated his opposition to warrantless wiretapping in votes, statements, and videos.
Photo by Scruffy Dan and Breanne. Creative Commons license.
