Judge Quits Secret Court...

A federal judge has resigned from the court that oversees government surveillance in intelligence cases in protest of President Bush's secret authorization of a domestic spying program, according to two sources.

U.S. District Judge James Robertson, one of 11 members of the secret court set up by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, sent a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts Monday notifying him of his resignation.


Judge Robertson

Robertson indicated privately to colleagues in recent conversations that he was concerned that information gained from warrantless NSA surveillance could have then been used to obtain FISA warrants, sources said. FISA court Presiding Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who had been briefed on the spying program by the administration, raised the same concern in 2004, and insisted that the Justice Department certify in writing that it was not occurring.

Now let's bear in mind that the FISA court has authorized more than 99 percent of the warrants that the government has asked for, all of which raises the question: How do they know they're spying on terrorists at all? If they had any firm idea they'd have probable cause and could a FISA warrant...

Welcome back to McCarthyism.