[During Watergate] We had had President Nixon's enemies lists with breaking into doctors' offices and wiretapping of innocent Americans, and so on. After that, the Congress, in a strong bipartisan effort, passed the FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978] legislation. We have that court that they can handle applications in secret for wiretaps or surveillance, if necessary for national security.

Now, we’ve just learned that the President has chosen to ignore the FISA law and the FISA court. He's issued secret orders. And according to the press and the President's own press conference, time after time after time, secret orders for domestically spying on American citizens without obtaining a warrant.

...we found out that the Department of Defense was going around -- this makes me think of COINTEL-PRO during the Vietnam War -- they’re going around the country photographing and spying on people who are protesting the war in Iraq. They went, according to the press, and spied on Quakers in Vermont.

In brief, we have found that there is substantial evidence the President, the Vice-President and other high ranking members of the Bush Administration misled Congress and the American people regarding the decision to go to war in Iraq; misstated and manipulated intelligence information regarding the justification for such war; countenanced torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in Iraq; and permitted inappropriate retaliation against critics of their Administration. There is at least a prima facie case that these actions that federal laws have been violated – from false statements to Congress to retaliating against Administration critics.