Warrantless Wiretaps Involved Domestic Only Calls

The big question is why did Bush avoid the FISA courts?

Josh pointed out one clue when he noted that the FISA courts were placing restrictions on more requests than in the past; a possible indication that Bush was seeking very thin warrants than was the case in the past.

A second possible explanation arises tonight with the New York Times piece noting that the spying program did, in fact, ensnare domestic only calls. Getting FISA warrants for methods that ensared such calls would have been problematic if not impossible.

But also note this nugget in the NYT piece:

In all, officials say the program has been used to eavesdrop on as many as 500 people at any one time, with the total number of people reaching perhaps into the thousands in the last three years.

Are we to truly believe all these thousands of people were sufficiently suspected of being tied to Al Qaeda?