SPECIAL REPORT: AFTERMATH OF TERROR JUSTICE DEPARTMENT WEIGHS
STEPPING UP MONITORING OF RELIGIOUS, POLITICAL GROUPS

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department is looking to step up monitoring
of political and religious groups within the U.S. and to further ease
the restrictions on electronic surveillance of those it believes are
linked to terrorism.

Meanwhile, Bush administration officials, acknowledging they were
taken aback by the criticism leveled at the president's plan to try
foreign terrorism suspects in military courts, said legal and other
questions raised by lawmakers and academics are being considered as
work is done to implement the plan.

White House Counsel Alberto R. Gonzales said he was surprised "at the
reaction to the military order," and he went further than other
administration officials have in limiting those to whom it might
apply.

President Bush's Nov. 13 order could apply to any noncitizen he
designates as a terror suspect, potentially including nearly 18
million U.S. residents. It permits those he designates to be tried
using secret evidence and convicted by a two-thirds vote of military
judges, and bars them from seeking "any remedy" in any civilian court.

The order's broad scope brought criticism from many quarters,
including not only Democrats but some Republicans as well. But "fears
that military commissions will be used to try green-card holders
living in the United States for ordinary civilian crimes are totally
unfounded," Mr. Gonzales told a meeting of the American Bar
Association's national-security law committee on Friday. Speculation
that drug traffickers may be candidates for military trial was
"far-fetched," he said. And, despite the order's language, Mr.
Gonzales said, any suspect with the ability to claim coverage of the
U.S. courts (for example, as a resident alien) would be able to
challenge a tribunal's jurisdiction through a habeas corpus
proceeding in federal court.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, whose staff is drafting the rules
to put the president's plan into effect, said there may not be a
single set of procedures, but different ones drafted for each case.
"It may vary, depending on individuals," he said at a news conference.

Mr. Rumsfeld said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that Pentagon
lawyers are consulting with outside legal experts on the tribunal
matter and that public debate has "elevated a lot of issues that are
important and need to be considered." He didn't identify the
consultants, but said they were brought in to ensure "that we do
this, in the event it happens, in a very measured, balanced,
thoughtful way that reflects our country's values and approaches."

The Senate Judiciary Committee will continue hearings on the tribunal
plan this week, including scheduled testimony from Attorney General
John Ashcroft. The Senate Armed Services Committee plans to hold
hearings on the matter next week.

While some administration officials were trying to rein in fears
about military tribunals, the Justice Department said it is studying
proposals to expand monitoring of religious and political groups and
to loosen restrictions on wiretaps.

After disclosures that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had
infiltrated antiwar and civil-rights groups during the 1960s, the
Justice Department adopted regulations requiring agents to show
probable cause that a crime was afoot before spying on political or
religious organizations.

Agency spokeswoman Mindy Tucker said Sunday that officials are
considering relaxing that standard as part of the "wartime
reorganization and mobilization" that Mr. Ashcroft announced last
month. Many local police departments have had similar rules in place,
but began to reconsider them following the Sept. 11 attacks. Sunday
Mr. Ashcroft endorsed such a change for federal authorities. "If a
religion is hijacked and used as a cover for killing thousands of
Americans, we're interested in that," he said on ABC's "This Week." A
department official said the proposal has been under study since
September.

Ms. Tucker also said Justice is considering seeking a change in the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The change would delete the
requirement that investigators show terrorist suspects are linked to
a foreign power or international terrorist group.

The proposal was contained in a memo prepared at the request of the
House and Senate intelligence committees, Ms. Tucker said.

A Senate Democratic aide said the congressional committees had only
asked for "technical corrections, like typos," in legislation and
that such a major change in the surveillance act "won't go anywhere."