Mac Ranger points to some non-news today on the NSA-FISA front. Specter thinks he has accomplished something, but in classic Washington DC style people are celebrating nothing new.

– Require the attorney general to give the intelligence court information on the program’s constitutionality, the government’s efforts to protect Americans’ identities and the basis used to determine that the intercepted communications involve terrorism.

_Expand the time for emergency warrants secured under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act from three to seven days.

_Create a new offense if government officials misuse information.

_At the NSA’s request, clarify that international calls that merely pass through terminals in the United States are not subject to the judicial process established under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Well folks, the FISA court has been reviewing the safe guards to some degree since the two Chief Justices were briefed on the change where NSA leads on potential terrorists here in the US would now go to the FBI, who would take those to FISA if they turned out to be valid leads. Before 9-11 the NSA would not pass over any information on leads in the US to the FBI – unless they were working under an FBI run warrant. If (and probably when) they detected the 9-11 terrorists in Hamburg or Asia talking to the first wave to make it here in San Diego, the NSA would not pass this information to the FBI. I believe that is, in essence, what changed after 9-11.

When that changes was made, the Top FISA Justice worked out processes and information that would come with the NSA leads to the FIS Court to demonstrate there was not improper hanky-panky. The FISA Chief Judge was the only one who knew which information was coming from NSA (as opposed to the FBI) and reviewed the background on that information. It was the NY Times leak in December that exposed this to the other judges, causing one to quit because he felt NSA leads ‘tainted’ FISA (no matter how many lives it could save). So Specter’s court review just broadened out the number of judges involved and created some ADDITIONAL laws to those on the books regarding misuse of information, etc. The 3-7 day expansion of th emergency request window is pure window dressing. The NSA is going to monitor terrorists (including calls just passing through our switches). The only question for the NY Times and the left is do they report communications they intercept with contacts here in the US or not. Only a liberal would say iit is better to die from a massive terrorist attack than risk some FBI agent misusing the FISA process to spy on someone for personal reasons (the NSA snoops don’t need warrants to do their overseas work). But that is why liberals do not win elections and run the country anymore.