Reading Room Document

Review of the Legality of the STELLAR WIND Program

This opinion comprehensively reviews the STELLAR WIND program, a program of electronic surveillance within the United States. It concludes that the president has the legal authority to authorize the STELLAR WIND program, and that the program complies with the Fourth Amendment. In addition, this opinion concludes that although STELLAR WIND may violate certain restrictions set out by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) or its amendments in the PATRIOT Act, the sweeping congressional authorization after 9/11 suggests that FISA should not be applied to STELLAR WIND. This opinion further concludes that FISA itself should be deemed unconstitutional due to its infringement on the president's power as Commander-in-chief. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at https://justice.gov/sites/default/files/pages/attachments/2014/09/19/may_6_2004_goldsmith_opinion.pdf.

May 6, 2004