SPY  (CONT)

Hinchey, Waxman and their colleagues additionally asked Fine what the reauthorization process for the surveillance initiative entails, and why the attorney general reportedly expressed strong reservations about the program.

"Did President Bush and Attorney General Gonzales finally realize that they were, in fact, defying the Constitution, or is there some other reason why the program has been moved to the court?" asked Hinchey. "Is the court providing blanket approval for the program, or will there be case-by-case reviews of the program?"

In January 2006, Hinchey and three of his House colleagues requested that DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility conduct an investigation. That agency's counsel, H. Marshall Jarrett, informed Hinchey in February that a probe was underway, said the congressman. But, Jarrett told Hinchey that the investigation had been closed because his representatives were denied the necessary security clearances.

Attorney General Gonzales testified before Congress in July that President Bush was the one who denied the security clearances. Documents released by Gonzales at that time also revealed that Inspector General Fine and some of his staff had, on the other hand, been granted security clearances to examine the NSA warrantless surveillance program.

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