Creative license

Emptywheel Alberto angle keeps getting legs:

AT&T has unilaterally rewritten "a person specified in section 2518(7) of this title or the Attorney General" to say "Attorney General or his designee." (And if you're wondering, 2518(7) doesn't say anything about "designees" either. Update: yes it does--though it specifies that they have to be investigative officers.)


Of course, we know why AT&T has unilaterally rewritten the law. That's because, as SSCI kindly told us, AT&T conducted its illegal wiretap program based on the authorization of Alberto Gonzales, then White House Counsel.

So, unless there's some bizarre reclassification that White House Counsel classifies under USC 2518(7) as-

"[an] investigative or law enforcement officer, specially designated by the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, the Associate Attorney General, or by the principal prosecuting attorney of any State..."

-I think we have reason to suspect that the wiretapping was not, in fact, properly authorized.