James Risen
Reporter
The New York Times


Eric Lichtblau
Reporter
The New York Times

Citation
The series of reports on American intelligence-gathering efforts began in almost an understated manner on December 16, 2005, with the headline "Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts." But in this lengthy--and superbly written and documented--article, James Risen and Eric Lichtblau signalled that a rock had been lifted from above one of the government's most closely held secrets. In its prosecution of the war against terror, the Bush administration had authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on the telephone and email conversations of thousands of Americans and others inside the United States--without warrants. By exposing the National Security Agency's domestic wiretaps, Risen and Lichtblau brought an issue into public view that goes to the very heart of our democracy: whether the chief executive is accountable to the laws of the land--or is a law unto himself.

Excerpt
Excerpt Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts
December 16, 2005
WASHINGTON--Months after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of terrorist activity without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying, according to government officials.
Under a presidential order signed in 2002, the intelligence agency has monitored the international telephone calls and international e-mail messages of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people inside the United States without warrants over the past three years in an effort to track possible "dirty numbers" linked to Al Qaeda, the officials said. The agency, they said, still seeks warrants to monitor entirely domestic communications.
The previously undisclosed decision to permit some eavesdropping inside the country without court approval was a major shift in American intelligence-gathering practices, particularly for the National Security Agency, whose mission is to spy on communications abroad. As a result, some officials familiar with the continuing operation have questioned whether the surveillance has stretched, if not crossed, constitutional limits on legal searches.
"This is really a sea change," said a former senior official who specializes in national security law. "It's almost a mainstay of this country that the N.S.A. only does foreign searches."
Nearly a dozen current and former officials, who were granted anonymity because of the classified nature of the program, discussed it with reporters for The New York Times because of their concerns about the operation's legality and oversight.
According to those officials and others, reservations about aspects of the program have also been expressed by Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, the West Virginia Democrat who is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and a judge presiding over a secret court that oversees intelligence matters. Some of the questions about the agency's new powers led the administration to temporarily suspend the operation last year and impose more restrictions, the officials said.
The Bush administration views the operation as necessary so that the agency can move quickly to monitor communications that may disclose threats to the United States, the officials said. Defenders of the program say it has been a critical tool in helping disrupt terrorist plots and prevent attacks inside the United States.

Biography
James E. Risen joined The New York Times as a correspondent in the Washington bureau, covering national security and intelligence, in May 1998. Previously, he served as a correspondent for the Los Angeles Times from 1984 to 1998, covering national security and intelligence, economics, and Detroit. From 1981 to 1984, he worked as a reporter for The Detroit Free Press covering the auto industry and labor. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Risen, 50, received a B.A. degree in history from Brown University and an M.S. degree in journalism from Northwestern University. He is married, has three children and lives in Maryland.

Eric Lichtblau joined The New York Times in September 2002 as Washington correspondent covering the Justice Department in the Washington bureau. Previously, Lichtblau was at the Los Angeles Times for 15 years, where he also covered the Justice Department in the Washington bureau from 1999 to 2002; before that, he did stints on the investigative team in Los Angeles and covered various law enforcement beats. Lichtblau was born in Syracuse, N.Y., and graduated from Cornell University. Lichtblau and Risen were awarded a 2006 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting.

Articles
"Spying Program Snared U.S. Calls"