Lawyers said Bush couldn’t spy on Americans. He did it anyway.

Lawyers said Bush couldn’t spy on Americans. He did it anyway.

A remarkable document released by The Guardian gives the public its first in-depth look at the legal process that justified the dragnet surveillance programs undertaken during President George W. Bush’s first term. And they make clear that lots of people involved in the process — government lawyers, judges, and the lawyers of private telecommunications companies — believed the Bush administration had stepped over the legal line.