Bush Defends Domestic Eavesdropping

Dec. 19, 2005 — -- President Bush declared Monday that he has the power to approve eavesdropping within the United States without going through standard legal procedures.

"Do I have the legal authority to do this? The answer is, absolutely," a defiant Bush said at a year-end news conference dominated by questions about his support for the secret domestic surveillance program.

Bush denied the program has compromised civil liberties and sharply rejected a reporter's suggestion that he is overseeing an expansion of "unchecked power of the executive." He maintains he shares that responsibility with members of Congress who, he claims, were briefed about the program.

News of the domestic surveillance program threatened to overshadow the president's other messages. In the hour-long East Room event, Bush did find an opening to play politics -- lashing out at Senate Democrats who have blocked passage of the Patriot Act. Without naming Harry Reid or Hillary Clinton, he slammed them by geographic implication, saying, "I want senators from New York or Los Angeles or Las Vegas to go home and explain why these cities are safer," without the bill. The Patriot Act is set to expire if the Senate does not vote to renew it before winter recess.

Bush was given an opportunity to comment on one domestic concern -- whether racism played a role in the slow response to Hurricane Katrina. "One of the most hurtful things I can hear is, Bush doesn't care about African-Americans ... It's not true." The comment was an apparent reference to pop singer Kanye West's announcement on national television that Bush "doesn't care about black people." The president vowed to do a better job of communicating with African-Americans in the year ahead.

Today's event is likely Bush's last high-profile public appearance of 2005. He is scheduled to leave for his Christmas vacation on Thursday. By all accounts, the year has been a rough one for the White House. Just over a year ago, the newly re-elected president declared he had a mandate and he vowed to spend his political capital. He enters 2006 with low approval ratings and growing questions about his credibility.

In recent weeks, the White House has been responding to these troubles with an aggressive public relations campaign -- especially on rebuilding public support for the war in Iraq. In the past four weeks, Bush has delivered five speeches focusing on what it will take to achieve military victory, as well as economic and political reform, in Iraq. The latest was his Oval Office address Sunday night in which he admitted mistakes were made but "we are winning in Iraq" and insisted that withdrawing all troops would be the biggest mistake of all.

Several Republican strategists insist a part of the president's message is intended to tie the war in Iraq to the larger war on terror -- and persuade Americans that success in Iraq will bring greater security at home. Early in the news conference, Bush managed to verbally elide the two wars with a convenient Freudian slip. In an anecdote about hunting Osama bin Laden, he referred to him as "Saddam," though he quickly corrected himself.