Congressional Republican: President may have broken the law

Republican U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, who is also the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, is furious at the White House over specific Executive powers in the war on terrorism that have not been disclosed to Congress.  Hoekstra actually supports President Bush's warrantless domestic wiretap program.  But after meetings with intelligence officials behind closed doors, he has reason to believe that the Administration is hiding from Congress other kinds spying tactics that are being used by the intelligence community.  Hoekstra wrote a letter to the White House on May 18th blasting them over this matter.  The New York Times obtained a copy, which will appear in Sunday's newspaper:

Recently, after the harsh criticism from Mr. Hoekstra, intelligenceofficials have appeared at two closed committee briefings to answerquestions from the chairman and other members. The briefings appear tohave eased but not erased the concerns of Mr. Hoekstra and otherlawmakers about whether the administration is sharing information onall of its intelligence operations.

A copy of the four-page letter dated May 18, which has not been previously disclosed, was obtained by The New York Times.

"I have learned of some alleged intelligence community activities aboutwhich our committee has not been briefed," Mr. Hoesktra wrote. "Ifthese allegations are true, they may represent a breach ofresponsibility by the administration, a violation of the law, and, justas importantly, a direct affront to me and the members of thiscommittee who have so ardently supported efforts to collect informationon our enemies."

He  added: "The U.S. Congress simply should not have to play Twenty Questions to get the information that it deserves under our Constitution."

Now that the New York Times released this letter, I am sure that Hoekstra's feet will be put to the fire.  But Hoekstra is not alone on this.  A lot of other conservative Republicans have reservations about this program because of the lack of Congressional oversight.

I think we can relate this to a real world example:

If your teenage daughter comes home very late on Saturday night, you're obviously going to approach her and say, "How come you were out so late.  I was worried sick.  What were you doing?"

"I was fine," your daughter replies.  "Trust me."

You repeat yourself, "You didn't answer the question.  Why were you out so late?"

"I'd rather not say," your daughter fires back.  "It's none of your business.  But just trust that I would not ever get into trouble."

As it pertains to intelligence oversight, the Bush Administration is like the daughter that stays out all night, while Congress is like the concerned mother.  If the Executive Branch says they are not doing anything illegal, why are they hiding information from Congress?  It is basically an admission of guilt.

Just a side note: Peter Hoekstra will appear tomorrow morning on the weekly show Fox News Sunday.  Expect for him to be attacked by the conservative host because of his criticisms about the White House's lack of disclosure.

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Other blogs writing about this issue: Whatever Already, The Democratic Daily, Prairie Weather, Black White, Liberty Street, Bustard Blog, The Reaction, Daily Kos, Vox Verax, State of the Day, The Common Ills,