From this morning’s New York Times: With Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s knowledge, the New York City Police established an “R.N.C. Intelligence Squad” that sent spies across America and even into foreign countries to infiltrate, conduct espionage against, and report information back about the activities of organizations and activists opposed to President George W. Bush.

The New York City Police spies then communicated with other police departments to share political information they had obtained through the spying, in order to control and keep anti-Bush groups under surveillance - even though the political activities of these groups were peaceful and legal.

The goal of the New York City Police Department’s R.N.C. Intelligence Squad: To control anti-Bush political demonstrations outside the Republican National Convention.

Did New York City’s R.N.C Intelligence Squad share the information gained from its spies with the Republican Party?

A politically-motivated international spying ring against peaceful political dissidents is too much for New York City to investigate alone - especially when Michael Bloomberg still sits in the mayor’s chair.

Both houses of the United States Congress should hold open, public investigations into the extent of the R.N.C Intelligence Squad’s spying and other abuses, and the degree of coordination between the squad and the Republican Party - including George W. Bush himself.