DOJ to Release Secret Spy Program Docs

The Justice Department has acquiesced to Congressional demands to provide more details on the controversial spying program, with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales agreeing to hand over secret documents to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Calls for the release of the information came from both sides of the aisle, with Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), now the committee chair, and Arlen Specter (R-PA) leading the calls for its release.

Specter is no stranger to criticism of the spying program; he has been repeatedly critical of it, even as committee chair during the last Congress. His opposition extends nearly as far back as the first revelations of the program itself.

However, with Republicans previously controlling the Senate, and a general reluctance by the GOP to take the President on over the matter, Specter and other concerned members of his party found their concerns falling on deaf ears.

That has changed with Democrats now in control of Congress' upper chamber. The party has expressed interest in investigating the legality of the program. Possibly emboldened by that support, Specter took Gonzales to task two weeks ago, criticizing him for refusing to turn over the documents.

A judge for the FISA Court, the secret court designed to make decisions regarding domestic wiretapping, saw no problem with the Senator's request, however Gonzales and the Bush administration up until Wednesday continued to resist.

The administration said mid-month it was ending the program, attempting to ward off a possible court battle that could find the program illegal. At that time, it acknowledged the authority of the FISA Court and would go through traditional methods to obtain warrants.

However, Democrats say that is not good enough, and are pressing for investigations into the past use of the program. "It should not deflect the attention of the American people or the Congress from seeking answers about the current and past operation of this program," House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) said in a statement at the time.

In a press conference with reporters Wednesday, Gonzales said it never was a question of whether or not the administration would provide access to the documents, but how. "We'd obviously be concerned about [how] the public disclosure may jeopardize the national security of our country," he said.

Documents would not be released publicly, and would only be viewable by members of the Senate and House judiciary committees who already have access to such sensitive information.