There have been a couple of interesting developments in the Bush/FISA story. First, a group of lawyers have comprehensively demolished the attempt by the Department of Justice to provide a legal justification for Bush’s actions. Money quote:

The argument that conduct undertaken by the Commander in Chief that has some relevance to “engaging the enemy” is immune from congressional regulation finds no support in, and is directly contradicted by, both case law and historical precedent. Every time the Supreme Court has confronted a statute limiting the Commander-in-Chief’s authority, it has upheld the statute. No precedent holds that the President, when acting as Commander in Chief, is free to disregard an Act of Congress, much less a criminal statute enacted by Congress, that was designed specifically to restrain the President as such.

Second, Doug Thompson at Capitol Hill Blue has identified a fairly impressive list of Bush appointees who told Bush that his actions were “breaking the law” and “could doom your administration”. They include:

• Colin Powell, ex-Secretary of State
• James D. Comey, ex-Deputy Attorney General
• John Ashcroft, ex-Attorney General
• George Tenet, ex-Director of the CIA

Of course all are now “ex”….