Leahy blasts White House over terror probe practices

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday sharply criticized the Bush administration for a series of practices it has adopted in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, calling them a "marked departure" from long-held jurisprudence customs.

MORE STORIES Leahy anthrax letter to be opened Friday at military lab     CNN.COM SPECIAL REPORT  CNN NewsPass Video  Agencies reportedly got hijack tips in 1998  MORE STORIES Intelligence intercept led to Buffalo suspects Report cites warnings before 9/11  EXTRA INFORMATION Timeline: Who Knew What and When? Interactive: Terror Investigation Terror Warnings System Most wanted terrorists What looks suspicious? In-Depth: America Remembers In-Depth: Terror on Tape In-Depth: How prepared is your city?  RESOURCES On the Scene: Barbara Starr: Al Qaeda hunt expands? On the Scene: Peter Bergen: Getting al Qaeda to talk

Citing President Bush's decision to allow military tribunals to try non-U.S. suspect terrorists, the Justice Department's decision to monitor phone conversations between attorneys and their clients in terrorism cases, and the widespread detention of possible suspects and immigration violators, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, said at a committee hearing that the Bush administration was going well beyond new anti-terrorism tools Congress granted in a bill passed in October.

"It's a marked departure from existing practices and raises a wide range of legal and constitutional questions and international implications," Leahy said, also blasting the White House for not consulting with Congress about the changes.

But Michael Chertoff, the assistant attorney general for the criminal division of the Justice Department, defended the administration, saying, for example, that the detention of hundreds of people is necessary to detect "sleeper cells" of terrorists.

He acknowledged the changes are a departure from the past, but said the September 11 attacks justified the new measures.

"We face an extraordinary threat to our national security and physical safety of the American people of a character that, at least in my lifetime, we have never faced before," Chertoff said. He acknowledged the changes as a departure from the past, but said the September 11 attacks justified the new measures.

"We face an extraordinary threat to our national security and physical safety of the American people of a character that, at least in my lifetime, we have never faced before," Chertoff said.

He also maintained that the practices fell within constitutional limits, something some civil libertarians have challenged.

Federal charges have been filed against 104 people -- 55 of whom are in custody. The Immigration and Naturalization Service has another 548 in custody for immigration violations.

Some of the charges range from helping the September 11 hijackers obtain fraudulent documents to lying to a grand jury about possible ties to the hijackers. A Justice Department official said 11 cases remain under seal.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, the top Republican on the Senate panel, said the government was "acting out of sincere concern.

"Most Americans worry we are not doing enough to thwart terrorist attacks, not that we are doing too much," the Utah Republican said.