US President George W. Bush denied on Thursday that the government was "trolling through" Americans' personal lives, despite a report that a domestic spy agency was collecting phone records of tens of millions of citizens.
Defending his administration's espionage program, Bush said intelligence activities he had authorized were lawful and the government was not eavesdropping on domestic calls without court approval.
But Democrats and Republicans alike demanded an explanation after USA Today reported the National Security Agency was secretly amassing phone records from phone companies to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist plots.
PHOTO: AP
"The privacy of ordinary Americans is fiercely protected in all our activities," Bush told reporters at a hastily called session aimed at damage control. "We're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans."
Some senators suggested, however, the disclosure could complicate confirmation of Air Force General Michael Hayden, who was nominated by Bush on Monday as director of the CIA.
USA Today said Hayden, who headed the NSA from 1999 to 2005, would have overseen the call-tracking program.
"Everything that NSA does is lawful," Hayden insisted after meeting Senator Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, as he pressed ahead with visits to senators who will consider his appointment. "The appropriate members of the Congress -- the House and Senate -- are briefed on all NSA activities."
The controversy could compound Bush's political problems as he struggles to lift public approval ratings that have fallen to new lows, putting his Republican Party's control of Congress at risk in November's elections.
Revelations late last year that the NSA was eavesdropping inside the US without warrants on international calls and e-mails of terrorism suspects sparked an uproar. But the USA Today report, if confirmed, means the agency's domestic program has been on a far wider scale.
Before leaving for Biloxi, Mississippi, a stern-faced Bush said: "Our efforts are focused on links to al Qaeda and their known affiliates" to prevent future attacks in the US. But he did not confirm or deny the USA Today story.
Senator Arlen Specter, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said he would ask phone companies whether they were providing Americans' records to the NSA. "We've got to ... figure out what is going on," the Pennsylvania Republican said.
Meanwhile, the White House on Thursday was standing by Hayden as its nominee for CIA director.
"We're full steam ahead on his nomination," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
RSS