NYTimes...Dishonest to the core...

As part of that investigation, a senior F.B.I. agent recently came forward with what the inspector general’s office described as accusations of “significant misconduct” in the surveillance program, people with knowledge of the investigation said. Those accusations are said to involve whether the N.S.A. made Americans targets in eavesdropping operations based on insufficient evidence tying them to terrorism.

And in one previously undisclosed episode, the N.S.A. tried to wiretap a member of Congress without a warrant, an intelligence official with direct knowledge of the matter said.

I lost count of the number of times that the New York Times referred to non-disclosed sources to write this tripe.

Also, the very last sentence clarifies that the Bush Administration blocked the effort. Sure, they included the language, but if this "journalist" is truly going to use the "inverted pyramid" format to write a story (important and clarifying information up front)...it should have been in the first paragraph...or the by-line. But, that would not serve their agenda.

On a side note...wasn't it National Intelligence Director Blair who said that the economic turmoil outpaced terrorism as the world's #1 concern. Why yes it was:

WASHINGTON: The new director of national intelligence told Congress that global economic turmoil and the instability it could ignite had outpaced terrorism as the most urgent threat facing the United States.

Hell, the entire Congressional body should be under surveillance in that regard. They caused it with their forced sub-prime fiasco. And, they continue to subsidize it by throwing money at the root problem instead of allowing the most egregious window licking businesses to fail.

Back to the original NY Times article. There isn't sufficient source back-up to even give this article a glance of consideration. However, assuming that there is a Congress"person" who had contact with a known Islamic extremist during a "fact finding mission"...I wonder who it would be. The sad point being that I could think of at least ten such folks off the top of my head that would fit the bill. One, I consider an extremist on their own accord...and likes to ride on pleasure yachts that challenge the Israeli navy.

The New York Times' stock can't bottom out fast enough...