Reagan-Appointed Judge Validated Warrentless Wiretaps

Of course he did. Bruce M. Selya, the judge who wrote the opinion, is a Reagan appointee. He probably shoots cuddly lil' animals on weekends with fellow Reaganites Dick Cheney & Justice Scalia just for fun.

Selya was part of the secret three-member FISA Review Court that made this ruling last summer. Why release it now? Bush's "legacy project." Natch.

We're witness to the legal equivalent to football's sudden-death overtime. Right down to the very last minute the Bush DOJ works to provide defense of the indefensible.

Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out fellas.

-AF
Cross-posted at TPM Cafe.

They Loves Them Their Spying

Our "new" new domestic spying program is ready to rock. Just loverly.

-AF
HT: Laura Rozen

OK So I Lied...Wiretapping And Another Top Ten McCain Myth

TPM has a crucial interview with The NYT's Eric Lichtblau re: wiretapping.

I also nearly forgot Media Matters' John McCain Myth #4:
John McCain Is A Reformer.

Free Ride: John McCain and the Media available now.

See you on Sunday.

-AF

Intel Hurt W/O Telecom Immunity?

WH sez "Um, No."







White House Backtracks On Claims...:

A day after warning that potentially critical terrorism intelligence was being lost because Congress had not finished work on a controversial espionage law, the U.S. attorney general and the national intelligence director said Saturday that the government was receiving the information -- at least temporarily.

"Temporarily" is a White House weasel word if I ever heard one.

FISA has served this country well for 30 years. The only true weakness in FISA lies with those who administer the programs and those who read the results. Bush doesn't want us to focus on that. Their failure to anticipate and stop the 9/11 attacks had nothing to do with our intelligence services being handcuffed by faulty legislation. This failure occurred, as we have learned from the August 6, 2001, President's Daily Briefing Memo to Sibel Edmonds, because the Bush administration wasn't listening!

I'll keep screaming it until I'm blue in the face (not a pretty sight): Retroactive telecom immunity has nothing to do with improving US intelligence capabilities. Under the current program, the telecoms have no choice but to comply with lawful requests. The FISA courts allow our intelligence services enough latitude to avoid constraining in any way needed surveillance. Saturday's WH statement confirms this point. They simply want us to believe otherwise.

To that end lil' Georgie caps off his month-long super-tantrum with a "We're all gonna die 'cos there ain't no retra 'munity" rant. Mukasey & McConnell's Friday night letter to Congress was naught but a great gnashing of teeth. Bush put the GOP Reps up to their silly kabuki theatre House walk out stunt. The House GOP release a scary web ad too.

This renewed bonding between this most unpopular of Republican Presidents and GOP Representatives (during an election year no less) isn't about national security. There would be no need for retroactive immunity if both our government and the telecoms hadn't broken the law. Telecoms would not fear liability from class action lawsuits from those citizens whose Constitutionally guaranteed civil rights they violated.

This is pragmatic politics for our new age. Retroactive immunity for their telecom campaign contributors is immunity for the Bush administration. Retroactive immunity for the Bush administration immunizes the Republican Party from further damage caused by full disclosure of this illegal wiretapping program's extent. Like tomato juice and the skunk-sprayed cat, immunity would clear up much of the stink but still leave you with ugly looking animal.

Retroactive immunity is a win-win-win strategy for the GOP. It's a losing proposition for the Constitution, the American people and all that we hold dear. Please take the time right now to write or call your Representative to let them know you support the continued efforts to keep retroactive telecom immunity out of the intelligence bill.

It's the American thing to do.

-AF

Accidents Will Happen

F.B.I. Gained Unauthorized Access to E-Mail

-AF

Immunity...Schmunity

While Bush & company try to scare us into supporting an immunity that benefits no one else but themselves, the telecoms flex their considerable monetary muscles by twisting Congressional arms. According to Opensecrets.org, the telecom/electronics lobby ranks #4 w/$2 billion+ spent since 1998. That’s a heckuva lotta of campaign contributions, free dinners and scotches. My guess it that that a majority of this went to Bush, Boehner, DeLay, “Duke”, Blunt, Stevens, Doolittle, Lewis et al.

No small wonder the Republican Representatives walked en masse yesterday. They had been already paid by the telecoms for their day's work to ignore their sworn duty to serve the American people. Inquiring minds want to know how many Dems voting for this bill also received some sort of past or renewed "support" from the telecom lobby.

Glenn Greenwald examines this fandango's latest developments here. In it he snags the following killer Mike McConnell quote from NPR this morning:

"We can't do this mission without their help," he said."Currently there is no retroactive liability protection for them. They're being sued for billions of dollars."

Yes, McConnell cannot "do this mission without their help." But the telecoms also cannot fail to cooperate in any lawful information gathering activity. Glenn fells this strawiest of the eavesdropping straw man arguments:

The claim that telecoms will cease to cooperate without retroactive immunity is deeply dishonest on multiple levels, but the dishonesty is most easily understood when one realizes that, under the law, telecoms are required to cooperate with legal requests from the government. They don't have the option to "refuse." Without amnesty, telecoms will be reluctant in the future to break the law again, which we should want. But there is no risk that they will refuse requests to cooperate with legal surveillance, particularly since they are legally obligated to cooperate in those circumstances. The claim the telecoms will cease to cooperate with surveillance requests is pure fear-mongering, and is purely dishonest.

If the telecoms committed no wrongdoing, what are they so worried about? After all, the telecoms can afford the very best lawyers. And once one suit is dismissed, the rest will soon follow. Its the complete lack of debate over whether any law has been broken that is conspicuous by its absence. (This from an administration still arguing that water boarding is not torture!)

This urgent need for retroactive immunity stems from the fact that all involved in warrantless wiretapping know that their crimes are completely indefensible. If they succeed in giving the telecoms retroactive immunity, the Bush Administration also immunizes themselves from any related prosecution. That is more important to Bush & Co. than protecting the asses of their generous telecommunications industry campaign contributors or, for that matter, the American people.

That is a talking point worthy of wider dissemination.

Meanwhile the clock keeps a tickin' on Bush's shot at scoring hisself sum immunities.

-AF

Bush To Pardon Telecoms?

Crooks and Liars links to NPR's Daniel Schorr who predicts Bush will pardon telecoms for their complicity in the President's illegal wiretap programs. Since Congress seems to have dug their heels in regarding the Preznit's request for retroactive immunity, some sort of blanket Presidential pardon seems logical. The big question I have is can a criminal President grant pardons to his co-conspirators? If so, you can bet that loophole will soon be closed albeit after the fact. It's not like the Presidential pardon wasn't controversial enough as it now stands.

I am curious as to exactly when this cozy relationship between the Bush Administration and the telecom industry began. Bush did signal that he was ready to throw down with big business and telcoms before he was sworn in.

AF