As Attorney General John Ashcroft underwent surgery on March 9, 2004, acting Attorney General James Comey told members of the Bush Administration “that the [Justice] department had determined the NSA [National Security Agency] [warrantless surveillance] program had no legal basis and he would not renew it. ‘As acting attorney general,’ he said, ‘I would not certify the program as to its legality.’ ”
– James Bamford, The Shadow Factory, Page 281