| Monday, February 06, 2006 |
| The Spy hearings, take one |
A.G. Alberto Gonzales' opening statement isn't worth reprinting, since it's just a rehash of the same meaningless drivel Bush, Cheney and other administration officials (including Gonzalez himself) have been spewing for weeks. More on the hearing's opening, including Gonzales' non-swearing in here.
Arlen Specter made a great point, which boiled down to "you have FISA. Use it." ... Specter is already on the record calling the NSA spy program illegal.
10:40 a.m.: Gonzales just refused to answer Sen. Patrick Leahy's question about whether, under his interpretation of the FISA law, Artice II of the Constitution and the Fourth Amendment, the president also has the statutory authority to open first class mail (in addition to listening in on phonecalls and reading e-mails of persons on U.S. soil.)
10:45 a.m.: Oh, god, it's Orrin Hatch's turn. Can somebody bring him his knee pads!!!??? Jesus, he's testifying on Gonzales' behalf -- making pro-administration statements and then adding "right?" as an answer to his own non-questions. Come on, Orrin, at least let the guy lie on his own...
10:57 a.m.: Kennedy's up. He's making the point that wouldn't it be better to have the clear legality of the program established, as happened when the FISA law was first enacted in 1978. Otherwise, any prosecutions resulting from the bugging could be challenged in court... Kennedy makes the point that by operating without explicit Congressional authority, the Bush administration is exposing the participating phone companies, the staff at NSA, and all others involved to legal action, and jeopardizing prosecutions.
Tags: politics, News, Bush, national security, NSA, government, spying, president, hearings, impeachment |
posted by JReid @ 10:45 AM   |
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