Oliver North says Republicans 'complicit' in letting intelligence services 'trod on' 4th Amendment

AL.com ^ | November 1, 2013 | Lee Roop

[jazusamo]

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - Retired Marine colonel and Iran-Contra figure Oliver North said in Huntsville Friday that that he is "deeply concerned" about the data being collected on American citizens by American intelligence agencies.

"I think the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution has been trod on," North told a press conference before addressing a crowd of 350 at a young Republicans' dinner at the Davidson Center for Space Technology. North added that "the Republicans in Congress are complicit by not insisting on a select committee to investigate not just NSA, but Benghazi, the IRS, the spying on Americans, enemies' lists being compiled."

"I think all of that would be worthy of a select committee," North said, "and I think I know a little something about select committees."

North, 70, rose to national prominence in the late 1980s as a staff member attached to the National Security Council during the political scandal called the Iran-Contra Affair. The United States covertly sold arms to Iran in an attempt to free hostages held in Beirut, Lebanon, and North helped transfer the proceeds to Contra rebels fighting the regime in Nicaragua in violation of a congressional edict. He was charged and convicted of several felonies after testifying to a select congressional committee, but the convictions were later vacated by a court because of improper prosecution methods.

North told reporters that a grim fate awaits Edward Snowden, the former CIA employee and National Security Agency contractor who leaked secret documents about American intelligence gathering methods to the press earlier this year. Snowden is now in Russia under political asylum.

North said the continuing leaks are "the inevitable consequence of an enormous failure of diplomacy in getting Mr. Snowden to come back to the United States before he got in the hands of the Russian intelligence service."

[ConorMacNessa]

North added that "the Republicans in Congress are complicit by not insisting on a select committee to investigate not just NSA, but Benghazi, the IRS, the spying on Americans, enemies' lists being compiled."

I second that! The failure of the leadership of the Republican Party to mount an effective opposition to the treasonous agenda of the Obama Regime is a major reason I cut myself loose from that bunch of dickless wimps.

America demands Justice for the Fallen of Benghazi!

Genuflectimus non ad principem sed ad Principem Pacis!

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

[jazusamo]

Amen to that, FRiend. Here's an article I just posted that may get something going in Congress.

Gun rights groups go after NSA

[Rapscallion]

With government, you get what you settle for. If you do not want surveillance stand up and holler “NO”

If you think Benghazi silence is a conspiracy stand up and demand your congress-pig investigate.

If you think obama has committed high crimes aginst the people / Constitution citizenship demands you stand up and tell your elected representatives you want Him impeached and removed. UNLESS YOU DEMAND OF THE POLITICIANS WHAT YOU WANT, THEY WILL DO NOTHING EXCEPT CONTINUE TO IGNORE WHAT SHOULD BE DONE AND ACCEPT MONEY FROM CORRUPT CONTRIBUTORS.

[Cboldt]

-- The Patriot Act opened the door to the NSA allowing them to do what ever the hell they want. --

The snooping was going on long before the USA Patriot Act. The government has been caught before, and Congress makes a big fuss and passes some laws that appear to curtail the power of the government to snoop. FISA, for example, was passed in 1977 as a reaction to the Church Committee report, and COINTELPRO.

Heck, SCOTUS, the first time it handled a phone call case, held that phone calls are OUTSIDE of 4th amendment privacy. Congress passed a statute to make snooping on phones a crime, and since then, the Courts have sort of found a right to privacy in phone calls.

The disincentives to snooping without a warrant are hollow. There is no legal penalty to the government (well, there is "on paper," but not in fact, as long as the government asserts "state secret"), leaving only the risk of negative public reaction if/when a snooping incident is disclosed.

And the cycle repeats. Negative public reaction is met with hollow outrage from Congress and a promise to not snoop anymore. It's all a show. You can bet the government snoops "as much as it can" (which is a physical/practical limitation, not a legal one). The government does not trust the public. Simple as pie.

[B4Ranch]

It’s nice to see him finally get some brains and realize the republicans are as complicit as the democrats are.

[TBP]

Ollie is right.

[Gene Eric]

This fiasco is the fault of Congress.