Feingold: Censure has historically been used to express displeasure presidential actions. Submitting article by Gearhart - an article from 1999.
Feingold is going to get schooled here in a second. This is going to be great.
Feingold: You didn't help me draft this thing. If you want the words bad faith in there, let's put them in.
The president has acted in bad faith by not revealing this program to the full committees and by making misleading statements by letting people think this program didn't exist. (Oh, by all means -lets let AQ know what we're doing).
It's shocking the defiant way the president has defended this program has led me to believe this is an appropriate step.
Do you think the president acted on good faith?
Fein: You can't have the operation go forward with someone checking the program that is unknown. Without the NYT publication Bush would have left office and this would still have been secret. The magnitude of spying on Americans is frightening. THis is what the Church Committee exposed. Illegal telegrams, etc. Secrecy breeds that kind of abuse and it's not going to change post 9/11.
Feingold: The president made misleading statements about the Patriot Act and wiretaps. He said that all wiretaps were legal. (Goes through various presidential statements about wiretapes).
He misled the American people.
Dean: It was striking and blatant and misleading. In the context that has arisen on an important issue and if it was unique and isolated it would be different but I think it's a pattern and practice.