Congress Keeps Bush’s Dirty Little Secret

Congress Keeps Bush’s Dirty Little Secret

February 17, 2006

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) announced yesterday that he reached an agreement with the White House to "fix" the National Security Agency (NSA) wiretapping program. This fix conveniently arrives at a time when members of both parties are pushing for full congressional investigations into Bush’s illegal domestic spying program. Senator John Rockefeller (D-WV) noted that fixes to the program cannot be voted upon if lawmakers "fundamentally do not know what they are authorizing or restricting." In the House, Intelligence Committee Chairman Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) is pushing for a limited inquiry. All this comes after a series of closed door meetings with Vice President Dick Cheney. And while some senators say they need more time to think about what actions to take, Sen. Rockefeller believes “this is another stalling tactic.”

• Sen. Roberts once again did the bidding of the White House. The Senate Intelligence committee met yesterday to "vote on whether or not to investigate” the NSA program, but the committee adjourned without voting. After already having impeded an investigation into the administration's use of pre-war Iraq intelligence and having failed to take any action on prisoner abuse allegations, Roberts proved yet again that he is willing to "do the president's dirty work."
  
  
• The Bush administration is trying to stonewall any investigation into the illegal wiretapping program. The administration is trying to stop Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) from proceeding with his investigation into the NSA program. "The Justice Department strongly discouraged him from calling former Attorney General John Ashcroft and his deputy, James Comey, to testify about the surveillance program." Comey had indicated his opposition to the program, and Ashcroft had serious problems with it as well.
  
  
• Legal troubles are emerging from the NSA program. A federal judge yesterday ordered the Justice Department to turn over its internal documents and legal opinions about the program within 20 days, or explain its reasons for refusing, delivering a setback to the administration’s attempts to keep the NSA operation under wraps. In his ruling, federal judge Harry Kennedy said, "President Bush has invited meaningful debate about the warrantless surveillance program." And the New York Times reports that "lawyers for a Kentucky man prepared to bring a federal civil rights lawsuit on Friday against President Bush to have the surveillance declared illegal and unconstitutional."