New CIA Chief?

On May 5th, President George W. Bush dropped the bomb on Washington. No need to worry about depleted Uranium though; this bomb was purely political. Last Friday the President accepted the resignation of CIA Director Porter J. Goss, and announced his replacement, Air Force General Michael V. Hayden.
Hayden, Deputy Director of National Intelligence (NSA) and aggressive proponent of warentless wiretaps, will likely be the new leader of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Recently General Hayen had an exchange with a reporter, not atypical for Washington insiders, but this particular exchange is worth revisiting. You can see the video HERE.

Jonathan Landay of Knight-Ridder’s news service asked General Hayden to comment on his support for the President’s controversial eavesdropping program.

Here’s an excerpt of the exchange:

Landay: "...the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution specifies that you must have probable cause to violate an American's right against unreasonable searches and seizures...

"Gen. Hayden: "No, actually - the Fourth Amendment actually protects all of us against unreasonable search and seizure."Landay: "But the --"Gen. Hayden: "That's what it says.

"Landay: "The legal measure is probable cause, it says."

Gen. Hayden: "The Amendment says: unreasonable search and seizure.

"Landay: "But does it not say 'probable cause'?"

Gen. Hayden [exasperated, scowling]: "No! The Amendment says unreasonable search and seizure

."Landay: "The legal standard is probable cause, General --

"Gen. Hayden [indignant]: "Just to be very clear ... mmkay... and believe me, if there's any Amendment to the Constitution that employees of the National Security Agency are familiar with, it's the Fourth. Alright? And it is a reasonableness standard in the Fourth Amendment. The constitutional standard is 'reasonable'" ( h/t Dale)

Here’s the Forth Amendment:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized

The letter and the spirit of the Forth Amendment seem very clear. The Constitutional standard is for no "unreasonable searches and seizures" without a warrent, the warrant is the obvious mandate. Yet the Director of the National Security Agency falls flat when defending his position on the Forth Amendment.


As Keith Oberman put it:
“Well, maybe they have a different Constitution over there at the NSA”