CIA vs. Senate: Who Is Obama Protecting? (What's Feinstein's Revelations About?)--Paul Jay/RNN Asks

[KoKo]

CIA vs. Senate: Who Is Obama Protecting? (What's Feinstein's Revelations About?)--Paul Jay/RNN Asks

Elizabeth (Liza) Goitein co-directs the Brennan Center for Justice's Liberty and National Security Program, which seeks to advance effective national security policies that respect constitutional values and the rule of law. Before joining the Brennan Center, Liza served as counsel to Senator Russell Feingold, Chairman of the Constitution Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and as a trial attorney in the Federal Programs Branch of the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. Her writing has been featured in major newspapers including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, USA Today, the Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Philadelphia Inquirer, as well as prominent outlets such as Roll Call, the National Law Journal, Salon, POLITICO, Time, and the Huffington Post. She has appeared on national television and radio shows including the The Rachel Maddow Show, The Today Show, All In with Chris Hayes, Up with Steve Kornacki, PBS NewsHour, and National Public Radio's Morning Edition and On The Media. Liza graduated from Yale Law School and clerked for the Hon. Michael Daly Hawkins on the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Transcript AT SITE:

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=11598


PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR, TRNN:

Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Paul Jay in Baltimore.In January, according to Dianne Feinstein, the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, that the head of the CIA, John Brennan, came to her and told her some of her staffers may have broken the law by getting access to secret documents that had been revealed to Senate investigators but, according to Brennan, shouldn't have been shown to Senate staffers, and that might be illegal. Why did he make this trip? Why did he tell Dianne Feinstein this? Because it led to Dianne Feinstein coming to the conclusion and finding out that the CIA had actually been spying on Senate computers, and had even removed records from those--and files from those computers.

Now joining us to give us some background and discuss all of this and joining us now from New York is Elizabeth Goitein. She's codirector of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School.Thanks for joining us very much, Elizabeth.ELIZABETH GOITEIN, CO-DIR., LIBERTY AND NAT'L SECURITY PROGRAM, BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE:

Thank you.JAY: So why the heck does Brennan go and say this to Feinstein? I mean, look at the hornets nest he let loose.GOITEIN: That's right. Well, he believes or the CIA believes that the Senate staff, the committee staff, may have committed a crime in some way, shape, or form. We don't really know the details of that, because John Brennan went to Senator Feinstein, he did not go to the American public. All we're getting is leaks, essentially, from CIA officials to reporters. But from what we can piece together, the CIA believes and it filed a crimes report with the Justice Department that Senate committee staff, while investigating the CIA's torture program, in some way it got unauthorized access to a document or a set of documents which was a draft CIA review of the very same torture program.And what's so interesting about all of this is that this draft review basically said a lot of the same things, it's been reported, as the Senate's own review, namely, the brutality of these so-called enhanced interrogation techniques were not justified by any security benefit. The CIA does not like the fact that Senate staffers obtained these draft reports, and the CIA believes that this was unauthorized.There's a very different story coming out of the Senate Intelligence Committee, though.JAY: Yeah. Dianne Feinstein, in her statement on March 11, essentially said this is actually all meant just to intimidate the Senate committee, never--and she also went on to say that much of it, of what the CIA has done is likely to be illegal. Here's a few quotes from her speech:

Full TRANSCRIPT at the SITE:

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=11598

[RufusTFirefly]

1. Expect crickets, KoKo

No amount of blue links from the Distractivists can diminish the fact that the buck stops at the Oval Office on this one.

Paul Jay put it well...

But it seems to me President Obama is kind of so far avoiding being the target in all this. But if President Obama--and many people think he's been trying to protect John Brennan and perhaps other people in the CIA--but don't you think--at least I think, from what I'm learning of this, all of this, that there's someone else that President Obama is trying to defend, and it's more important to defend this person than to defend the principle of civilian oversight. And that person is President Obama, because if this thing goes public and people realize the extent of the illegality, who the heck has been protecting them and didn't--and who knew this, meaning the president, didn't turn this over to Holder, didn't prosecute, the same way he wouldn't prosecute Bush and Cheney, that this makes his whole lack of prosecution become greatly egregious, and he's protecting himself more than anyone, including protecting, as I say, the principle of civilian oversight.

[KoKo]

2. We've been led to believe that lack of prosecution

was all about protecting Bush Admin. That "Look Forward Meme.'

Thought Paul Jay brought up interesting questions and your quote is a possibility. I guess we shall have to see how this works out (if ever...or pushed under rug...settled out of sight) but there's something there that caused her to go off in a hissyfit this week. Protecting Herself (?)because of her lack of action on the Senate Intel Committee about the Torture during Bush ...as well as PBO for what his administration might have been doing? Or they all are so worried about Bremmer backlash that they are scrambling amongst themselves for cover because of power of CIA. I'd like to think it's about our Constitution and Senate's Powers to regulate CIA...but...it's not likely given what we've seen for a long while.

[RufusTFirefly]

4. In fairness, I can't blame folks for being skittish

Remember what happened to the President who said he'd break the Company into a million pieces.

[Titonwan]

5. That's a scary thought...

But I thought being brave was part of the job description. Unless he's monitored 24/7, which wouldn't surprise me. I suppose he could have independents sweep his crib for bugs/cameras but that's a sad state of affairs if that's necessary.

Might even be useless if there's newer technics for spying and I don't put nothing past DARPA. They study (and develop) some cray cray assed shit over there.

I think this president better start doing his job- prosecute Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Yoo/Rice and the rest of the cabal who led us into illegal war, war crimes & crimes against humanity per the Rome Statute.
If he doesn't, he looks like an accomplice.

[cantbeserious]

3. Where Be The Government Cheerleaders? - "Yet Snowden Is A Traitor"

eom

[Titonwan]

6. Hi KoKo!

Lovely to see ya. Ahh... fresh air again.

[KoKo]

7. good to see

the "escape." from the Pod...