Editorial: President’s cone of silence

Monday, May 8, 2006 | 7:25 a.m.

After it was revealed late last year that President Bush approved wiretapping of some Americans' phone calls and e-mails without first obtaining court orders, the administration immediately took steps in hopes of minimizing the controversy. One step taken to quell widespread criticism of the program was to claim that Congress was in the loop about its existence.

Specifically, the White House has asserted it held dozens of meetings with key members of Congress to brief them on the National Security Agency's monitoring program of overseas calls between Americans and individuals suspected of having links to al-Qaida. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, since December, has requested that a list of lawmakers, along with dates of the briefings, be made public. But Bush officials have bottled up that most basic information inside the House Intelligence Committee, claiming it is classified.

Pelosi is one of a small group of lawmakers who have seen the list. In a letter she sent to National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley this week, Pelosi demanded the list's release yet again. She makes a strong case that the release of a simple list of lawmakers' names and dates does not endanger national security, especially since White House officials have been talking about the program. Pelosi wrote that the White House action was "inconsistent with classification standards and completely without merit."

She's right. It's outrageous that White House officials would hide such benign information from the public after floating their claims. By all appearances, the action seems politically motivated. This is an administration willing to leak information when it is to its advantage, but it won't release information that deserves to be made public if it is to its disadvantage.

If Bush, as he claims, has actually kept Congress adequately informed about his secret war on American privacy, he shouldn't be afraid to release a simple document that proves it. But maybe the list of people shows that far fewer members of Congress were briefed than Bush aides have claimed.

Whatever the case, until it is released, we won't know. What is the administration hiding?