Heckuva Job Gossie Out, General “Familiar With The Fourth Amendment” Hayden In

Gosh, maybe it wasn't the hookers. Maybe it was something not so bad. Like bribery going on under his nose, and Goss being even more incompetent than Michael Brown, plus he had become irrelevant anyway. Christopher Cooper, Scot J. Paltrow and Robert Block for the WSJ report that CIA #3 "Dusty" Foggo "is under federal criminal investigation in connection with awarding agency contracts." Dana Priest for WaPo reports that "as he walked out the glass doors of Langley headquarters yesterday, Goss left behind an agency that current and former intelligence officials say is weaker operationally, with a workforce demoralized by an exodus of senior officers and by uncertainty over its role in fighting terrorism and other intelligence priorities." One senior European counterterrorism official, asked recently for his assessment of Goss's leadership, responded by saying, "Who?" --- In a related story, Dafna Linzer and Walter Pincus report that The likely successor to Goss is Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the former director of the National Security Agency and now deputy to Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte. --- This would be the same General Hayden who displayed the reading comprehension skills of a second grader, when it comes to understanding the text of the Fourth Amendment. This is an exchange between Jonathan Landay and General Hayden at the National Press Club, January 23, 2006: JONATHAN LANDAY: Jonathan Landay with Knight Ridder. I'd like to stay on the same issue. And that has to do with the standard by which you use to target your wiretaps. I'm no lawyer, but my understanding is that the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution specifies that you must have probable cause to be able to do a search that does not violate an American's right against unlawful searches and seizures. GEN. MICHAEL HAYDEN: Actually, the Fourth Amendment actually protects all of us against unreasonable search and seizure. That's what it says. JONATHAN LANDAY: But the measure is probable cause, I believe. GEN. MICHAEL HAYDEN: The amendment says unreasonable search and seizure. JONATHAN LANDAY: But does it not say probable -- GEN. MICHAEL HAYDEN: No. JONATHAN LANDAY: The court standard, the legal standard -- GEN. MICHAEL HAYDEN: The amendment says unreasonable search and seizure. JONATHAN LANDAY: The legal standard is probable cause, General. You used the terms just a few minutes ago, “We reasonably believe.” And a FISA court, my understanding is, would not give you a warrant if you went before them and say “We reasonably believe.” You have to go to the FISA court or the Attorney General has to go to the FISA court and say, “We have probable cause.” And so what many people believe, and I would like you to respond to this, is that what you have actually done is crafted a detour around the FISA court by creating a new standard of “reasonably believe” in place of “probable cause,” because the FISA court will not give you a warrant based on reasonable belief. You have to show a probable cause. Can you respond to that, please? GEN. MICHAEL HAYDEN: Sure. I didn't craft the authorization. I am responding to a lawful order, alright? The Attorney General has averred to the lawfulness of the order. Just to be very clear, okay -- and believe me, if there's any amendment to the Constitution that employees at the National Security Agency is familiar with, it's the fourth, alright? And it is a reasonableness standard in the Fourth Amendment. So, what you've raised to me -- and I'm not a lawyer and don't want to become one -- but what you’ve raised to me is, in terms of quoting the Fourth Amendment, is an issue of the Constitution. The constitutional standard is reasonable. And we believe -- I am convinced that we're lawful because what it is we're doing is reasonable.