Illegal N.S.A. Spy Program Found Nothing

News:

Recent comments about the N.S.A. program from the F.B.I. are the first indication that the program was viewed with skepticism after September 11th. One F.B.I. official said, Director Robert Mueller expressed concern about the N.S.A.'s rationale for spying without warrants on the American people. He questioned "whether the program had a proper legal foundation." The F.B.I. said the program had uncovered no active Al-Qaeda networks inside the United States. Bush's authorization will come under scrutiny next month in hearings on Capitol Hill, which were planned after members of Congress raised questions about the illegal spying.

Two leading civil rights groups will file lawsuits against the Bush administration for its illegal spy program. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights want the courts to order an immediate end to the program, which they say is illegal and unconstitutional. The two groups want to answer to the fundamental question on most Americans' minds.  Has the program been used to single out the international phone calls and e-mail messages of people with known links to Al Qaeda or has it been abused and used to gather information on thousands of innocent Americans?