Leahy: Intel panel about to ‘cave’ on surveillance

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on Thursday condemned Intelligence Committee Democrats for brokering a deal with the White House that would provide retroactive immunity for telephone companies that assisted the Bush administration’s controversial warrantless wiretapping program.

At the second day of confirmation hearings for President Bush’s Attorney General-nominee Michael Mukasey, Leahy warned that “the Intelligence Committee is about to cave on this,” citing pressure from the White House and press reports suggesting the administration had gotten its way.

“[Administration officials] know that it was illegal conduct and that there is no saving grace for the president to say, ‘Well, I was acting with authority,’ ” said Leahy. “Otherwise there wouldn't be so much pressure on us to immunize illegal conduct by either people acting within our government or within the private industry.”

Leahy’s remarks signal that a bipartisan accord to overhaul the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), reached Wednesday by the Intelligence panel’s leaders and the White House, could divide Democrats and hit a roadblock on his panel as well. The Intelligence Committee marks up the bill Thursday afternoon, after which it will be referred to Judiciary, where more Democrats have openly opposed retroactive immunity language.

His comments also come as House Democratic efforts to overhaul the law are falling into disarray, after House Republicans used parliamentary maneuvers to force leaders to pull the Democrats’ FISA rewrite from the floor late Wednesday.

Attempting to resolve a central point of contention, Senate Intelligence panel Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) reportedly reached a deal Wednesday with Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell to give full retroactive immunity to telephone companies if they can demonstrate they were cooperating lawfully with the secret wiretapping program when suits were levied against them.

Not all Democrats on the Judiciary Committee appeared to share Leahy’s concerns. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who sits on both the Judiciary and Intelligence panels, signaled she was likely to support the bipartisan approach.

“At this stage, it is a bipartisan bill,” Feinstein said. “I’m absolutely convinced that the only way we can legislate on this is on a bipartisan basis. This bill so far is bipartisan — that’s good news.”

During the hearing, Democrats launched fresh criticism at Mukasey’s interpretation of FISA. After the nominee indicated that Bush was not acting illegally by going beyond that statute in authorizing eavesdropping without court warrants, Leahy called that argument “a loophole big enough to drive a truck [through].”

Whether the president is acting illegally “would have to depend on whether what goes outside the statute nonetheless lies within the authority of the president to defend the country,” Mukasey said.

The "Lame Duck President" is one of the most overrated and over-abused expressions in politics. The American President, at least someone with principles and leadership, is the most powerful man on the planet until his last second in office, George W Bush has shown us that there is no lame Duck President when the President wants to govern.

Thanks the Lord for the wisdom of the Founding Fathers.

>>>>The motion to recommit language proposed by Republicans says that The Restore Act cannot in any way prevent intelligence agencies from tracking Usama bin Laden, Al Qaeda or conversations between other foreign terrorist entities. <<<<

I'd like to have your source on this....it needs to be waived under the noses of a few Seattle liberals.

Thanks

So, the libs know what the Admin did was illegal and according to leaky Leahy, so did this Administration. The libs are allowing pressure to be put on them to "allow" this illegal activity to continue because....because...someone help me out here.

>>>The very bad news is that the democrat party is full of traitors, the very good news is that they are very impotent and very stupid. <<<

Your absolutely right and it bears repeating, over and over! But not impotent enough!

I am absolutely insensed that FISA was brought into play in order to wire tap Iraqi terrorists that had just kidnapped [and later killed] 5 U.S. soldiers, resulting in a 9hr 47minute delay in tracking the enemy.

The thinking [if it passes for that] is that many cell calls totally contained withing a foreign country may be routed through U.S. companies facilities in the USA and therefore "touch our shores"!

Leahy is lucky Seattle is so far from D.C.! I'd probably calm down a bit on the flight East!

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