WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Top U.S. congressional Democrats are calling for an investigation into President George Bush's repeated use of anti-terror wiretaps without court orders.
The call for an independent inquiry was made in a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, D-Ill., by four senior Democrats.
Bush has acknowledged he authorized the National Security Agency about 30 times to intercept international communications of people in the United States "with known links" to terror groups, and criticized the media for divulging the program.
While the NSA is barred from domestic spying, it can get warrants issued with the permission of a special judicial body called the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court, but Bush has been skirting that.
Some top Republicans also called for hearings, CNN said.
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said on CBS' "Face The Nation" he found it a "bit disturbing" that Bush was invoking that power.
"If you allow him (Bush) to make findings, he becomes the court. You can't allow him or others to play the role of the court because then others adopt that model when they hold our troops," Graham said.
