Domestic Spying Program to Get Internal Review

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27, 2006 — -- The Justice Department's inspector general has informed the Judiciary and Intelligence committees of both the House and Senate that he will begin a review of the controversial NSA Terrorist Surveillance Program.

In a letter to the committees, Inspector General Glenn Fine wrote that the review would be to examine the Justice Department's "controls and use of information related to the program and the department's compliance with legal requirements governing the program."

The inspector general's office had previously deferred a congressional request to review the NSA program and the attorney general's authorization of the program to the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, an internal DOJ watchdog that monitors the activities of DOJ lawyers.

In March, Fine noted in a report to Congress on the USA PATRIOT Act, "Under the department's interpretation of the jurisdictional authority of the OIG and OPR, allegations regarding the attorney general's legal authorization of NSA surveillance fell within DOJ OPR's jurisdiction, not the OIG's."

After an initial review by OPR earlier this year, the congressional oversight committees were informed by the chief OPR attorney, Marshall Jarrett, that his attorneys had repeatedly been denied proper security clearances by the White House.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in July 2006 that the decision not to grant the clearances was ultimately made by President Bush.

"As with all decisions that are non-operation in terms of who has access to the program, the president of the United States makes the decision," Gonzales said.

Members of Congress have been asking for the internal Justice Department review since the program was first disclosed by the New York Times last year.

"After trying for nearly a year to get DOJ to conduct an investigation of the NSA's warrantless spy program, I am very pleased to learn that the agency's inspector general is finally opening an investigation," Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., said in response to Fine's letter.