WASHINGTON -- Documents show Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito wrote a memo in 1984 defending the government's right to order domestic wiretaps. Alito was working for the Reagan Justice Department when he sent the memo to the solicitor general. The memo was about whether government officials should have blanket protection from lawsuits when authorizing wiretaps. Alito wrote, ``I do not question that the attorney general should have this immunity.'' But he also warned officials that the government would likely lose a pending case. At issue was whether President Nixon's attorney general could be sued for authorizing a warrantless domestic wiretap to get information about a suspected terrorist plot. The memo was released by the National Archives at the same time President Bush has come under fire for approving domestic spying.
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