White House Wiretap Secrecy a ‘Legal Mess’

A former Justice Department official told a Senate committee yesterday that he encountered “a legal mess” when reviewing a secret terrorism eavesdropping program.

Jack L. Goldsmith, who formerly led the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel, said White House secrecy and its belief in executive power made it difficult to review the program, the New York Times reports.

Goldsmith said the administration was so secretive that only four DOJ officials were allowed to learn details of the National Security Agency program, the Washington Post reports.