ACLU requests wiretapping probe

ACLU REQUESTS WIRETAPPING PROBE
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Daniel Trotta]
The American Civil Liberties Union launched a 20-state campaign on Wednesday to stop warrantless eavesdropping by the National Security Agency and prevent telecoms firms from providing it with phone records. The rights group was appealing directly to the states because it said the U.S. Congress had failed to exert its oversight role over the White House and because the Federal Communications Commission had chosen not to pursue complaints. The ACLU and its affiliates are petitioning utilities regulators and attorneys general in 20 states to demand investigations and public hearings with a goal of stopping the domestic spying or revealing more about it. "The NSA data mining program is just the latest example of what we believe is a longer-term abuse of power by the executive branch," ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero told reporters on a conference call. "It's an effort to undercut judicial review, to seize law-enforcement powers that it should not have and that Congress did not grant to it, and an effort to hide information from public scrutiny and public involvement on important issues that affect the basic rights of ordinary Americans," he said.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID...

* A.C.L.U. Seeks States' Help on Phone Records Inquiry
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/25/us/25phone.html