Bush To Tap Man Who Doesn't Know 4th Amendment For CIA

AP is reporting that according to an un-named administration official, Gen. Michael Hayden, top deputy to National Intelligence Director John Negroponte, is the leading candidate to replace Goss.

Hayden served as National Security Agency director until becoming the nation's No. 2 intelligence official one year ago. Since December, he has aggressively defended the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance program. Hayden was one of its chief architects.

John at AmericaBlog remembers how Hayden justified breaking the constitution over warrantless wiretapping as getting around "looping paperwork" and says:

Wonder if the Democrats will use this nomination as a chance to talk about Hayden's less-than-satisfactory answers regarding the NSA scandal, and the fact that we're putting a man who illegally used America's intelligence resources to spy on American citizens in charge of, what? America's intelligence resources.

John, I hate to have to tell you but its even worse than that. Anthony at CosmicTap emailled me to remind me of the tiny fact that Hayden seems to think the Fourth Amendment doesn't include any mention of "probable cause," and has a quote from an exchange with Knight-Ridder's Jonathan Landay at the National Press Club in January as terrifying evidence.

Landay: "...the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution specifies that you must have probable cause to violate an American's right against unreasonable searches and seizures..."

Gen. Hayden: "No, actually - the Fourth Amendment actually protects all of us against unreasonable search and seizure."

Landay: "But the --"

Gen. Hayden: "That's what it says."

Landay: "The legal measure is probable cause, it says."

Gen. Hayden: "The Amendment says: unreasonable search and seizure."

Landay: "But does it not say 'probable cause'?"

Gen. Hayden [exasperated, scowling]: "No! The Amendment says unreasonable search and seizure."

Landay: "The legal standard is probable cause, General -- "

Gen. Hayden [indignant]: "Just to be very clear ... mmkay... and believe me, if there's any Amendment to the Constitution that employees of the National Security Agency are familiar with, it's the Fourth. Alright? And it is a reasonableness standard in the Fourth Amendment. The constitutional standard is 'reasonable'."

Just for Hayden, here's the actual wording:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

A scary man for the job.