General Michael Hayden.
You may remember him as the man who gave the following explanation for why the Bush administration illegally spied on American citizens without seeking the necessary court orders.
Air Force Gen. Michael V. Hayden, who was NSA director when the surveillance began and now serves as Bush's deputy director of national intelligence, said the secret- court process was intended for long-term surveillance of agents of an enemy power, not the current hunt for elusive terrorist cells.Yes, obeying the US Constitution and the rule of law would involve actually having to prove that the search is justified and "paperwork." So the general chose to ignore the cumbersom paperwork and violate the United States Constitution instead.
"The whole key here is agility," he said at a White House briefing before Bush's news conference. According to Hayden, most warrantless surveillance conducted under Bush's authorization lasts just days or weeks, and requires only the approval of a shift supervisor. Hayden said getting retroactive court approval is inefficient because it "involves marshaling arguments" and "looping paperwork around."
Now the law-breaker is going to be CIA chief.
Wonder if the Democrats will use this nomination as a chance to talk about Hayden's less-than-satisfactory answers regarding the NSA scandal, and the fact that we're putting a man who illegally used America's intelligence resources to spy on American citizens in charge of, what? America's intelligence resources.
