By Walter Pincus, Washington Post
…U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth known for his outspoken nature, was the court’s chief judge from 1995 to 2002 and during that period was privy, he said, “to every deepest, darkest secret our country has.” His presentation Saturday, at the American Library Association’s convention, was probably the most revealing discussion to date of actions by the FISA court, which since 1978 has approved wiretaps and other secret surveillance activities involving foreign intelligence and terrorism cases.
…Taking direct aim at the administration’s assertion, Lamberth noted that members of the court had approved almost 99 percent of the FISA applications presented. He added that he could not see a better way of conducting such surveillance.
“What the president did with the NSA,” Lamberth said, was “a proposal for a worse way.”