Warrantless Wiretaps Wiped Out

President Bush is calling it quits on his warrantless wiretapping program. It will be turned over to a special court that had previously authorized wiretaps in terrorism cases.

"The president has determined not to reauthorize the Terrorist Surveillance Program when the current authorization expires." -- Atty Gen Alberto Gonzales in a letter to Senate leaders.

The Bush administration never revealed any terrorists caught nor any terrorist plot averted because of the program. Critics complained that it circumvented the Constitution, and the FBI complained it wasted their time, forcing them to wade through hours of NSA recordings.

There were claims it was used to spy on then Secretary of State Colin Powell's staff and other political rivals of the Bush administration. (AP via Yahoo!)