Report: FISA judge resigns over Bush plan

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- A judge on a secret U.S. court that oversees domestic spying has resigned over President Bush's end run around the court, a report says.

The Washington Post said U.S. District Judge James Robertson is one of 11 members of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, called the FISA court.

Robertson sent a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts late Monday telling him about the resignation, but without giving a reason, the Post said.

Robertson privately expressed concern that the surveillance authorized by the president in 2001 "may have tainted the FISA court's work," the Post said.

A Clinton appointee, Robertson was appointed to the FISA court by the late Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist.

The surveillance monitored international calls from the United States without a warrant issued by a court.

Since media reports revealed the surveillance program, some politicians on both sides of the aisle have expressed doubts about its legality.

However, the president has said the program is legal, and he would continue to use it to prosecute the war on terror.