U.S. Department of Justice to release court orders on domestic spy program

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Wednesday he will turn over secret documents detailing the government's domestic spying program, ending a two-week standoff with the Senate Judiciary Committee over surveillance targeting terror suspects.\n"It's never been the case where we said we would never provide access," Gonzales told reporters.\n"We obviously would be concerned about the public disclosure that may jeopardize the national security of our country," he said. "But we're working with the Congress to provide the information that it needs."\nThe documents held by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court -- including investigators' applications for permission to spy and judges' orders -- will be given to some lawmakers as early as Wednesday.\nGonzales said the documents would not be released publicly.\n"We're talking about highly classified documents about highly classified activities of the United States government," the attorney general said.\nThe records will be given to Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and the panel's top Republican, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who two weeks ago lambasted Gonzales for refusing to turn over documents that even the FISA Court's presiding judge had no objection to releasing.\nAt the time, Gonzales said it was unclear whether the court orders could be released without exposing sensitive security information.\nThe documents also will be available to lawmakers and staffers on the House and Senate intelligence committees. These people already were cleared to receive details about the controversial spy program.\nLeahy said he welcomed the Bush administration decision to release the documents, which he said he would review to decide "what further oversight or legislative action is necessary." Specter stopped short of calling for them to be publicly released, but said "there ought to be the maximum disclosure to the public, consistent with national security procedures."\n"They will not be made public until I've had a chance to see them," Specter said.\nBut the administration still won't release other crucial documents that explain how FISA Court's orders comply with the 1978 surveillance law that the court oversees, said Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., a senior member of the House Intelligence Committee. She said the deal to release the documents stems from a briefing in front of that panel last week, which included Justice Department officials, and left many lawmakers frustrated.