In a debated test of the Constitution, the Bush administration in 2002 considered using American troops on US soil to arrest a group of men suspected of plotting with al-Qaeda, a report says.
The New York Times reported Friday that top officials of former President George W. Bush, including Vice President Dick Cheney, urged that the military be used to arrest the men who operated in Buffalo suburb.
The Constitution and various laws restrict the military from being used to conduct domestic raids and seize property.
The Fourth Amendment bans “unreasonable” searches and seizures without probable cause. And the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 generally prohibits the military from acting in a law enforcement capacity.
However, Cheney argued that the president did have the power to do so, citing an October 23, 2001 Justice Department memorandum co-authored by John Yoo which claimed that presidential power extended to the domestic use of the military as long as it served a national security purpose, the report added.
“The president has ample constitutional and statutory authority to deploy the military against international or foreign terrorists operating within the United States,” the memorandum said.
Cheney's legal advisor David Addington and some Defense Department officials supported Cheney's position, but several aides to Bush opposed it, along with then national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and FBI director Robert Mueller.
Bush finally decided against the proposal and ordered the FBI to make the arrests in Lackawanna. The men were subsequently arrested and pleaded guilty to terrorism-related charges.
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