Feinstein, Bipartisan Group of Senators Seek Inquiry into Domestic Spying

[kpete]

Feinstein, Bipartisan Group of Senators Seek Joint Judiciary-Intelligence Inquiry into Domestic Spying
December 20th, 2005
The White House attempted yesterday, to elaborate on their authority for eavesdropping on American citizens.

Today, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and a bipartisan group of Senate Intelligence Committee members called for a joint inquiry by the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees into the President’s authorization of domestic electronic surveillance of U.S. citizens.

“We write to express our profound concern about recent revelations that the United States Government may have engaged in domestic electronic surveillance without appropriate legal authority. These allegations, which the President, at least in part, confirmed this weekend require immediate inquiry and action by the Senate,” the Senators wrote in a letter to Senators Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, and Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), the chairman and vice chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence.

Joining Senator Feinstein on the letter were Senators Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

Senator Feinstein noted that under the Senate Intelligence Committee rules, “if five members of the Committee make a request in writing to the Chairman to call a meeting of the Committee, and the Chairman fails to call such a meeting within seven calendar days thereafter, including the day on which the written notice is submitted, these members may call a meeting by filing a written notice with the Clerk of the Committee who shall promptly notify each member of the Committee in writing of the date and time of the meeting.”
http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/

[understandinglife]

1. Traction .....

Peace.

[BelgianMadCow]

2. So inquiries sought after in BOTH the house and the senate

Go Dems GO!

Lewis / Conyers / Boxer / Feinstein

One could say they all are rushing to the mike.

My dreamer half likes to see it as a coordinated effort by the Dems.


wOOt!

edit : damn forgot Feingold

[FreedomAngel82]

3. Nice

:toast: Here's to them!

[BelgianMadCow]

7. I'll join in that toast

:toast:

Victory!

[Norquist Nemesis]

4. Please make note of the term "electronic surveillance"

From what I'm hearing (and also thanks to CorpNews) many people, if not most, are thinking phones with a little email watching. And when you add in the military's domestic recon missions recently reported, my gut is telling me it is much bigger than anyone has imagined.

Phones, absolutely. Emails, definitely (just consider the volume of email on a daily basis). But what about financial transactions of every type, library use (manual checkout is a thing of the past; libraries are also linked through interlibary loan networks), travel (tracked by cc as well as I-pass mechanisms/transit cards/etc.), even those little cameras throughout city streets. "Electronic" covers a whole broad spectrum.

The Cons are just fine and hunky dorey about it all, too! On the rare occasion that I engage with a chickenshit, I ask them to honestly answer this question: "If a Democrat were in the White House and Democrats were in the majority of both houses of Congress, would you still be okay with it?" You can almost watch the light bulb turn on, (dim as it is).

[Just Me]

5. This situation is way WAY beyond politics. Spying on Americans,...

,...is very serious shit and there IS NO VALID EXCUSE FOR THAT VIOLATION OF LAW AND POWER,...not that there are valid excuses for all the other breaches of law and abuses of power by this tyrannical administration.

Any Republican that rationalizes this activity is just fucking crazy.

[mwb970]

15. Last time this happened there was a Dick in the White House too.

Last time it was Nixon. This time it's Cheney. Let's face it - America goes way off the track whenever we have a Dick in the White House.

[The Stranger]

6. Didn't she come out against Murtha recently?

I would rather have someone else call the hearings.

[sandnsea]

10. Too fuckin' bad

This is where the investigation has to come from, so you either support these people or get nothing. If you can't be supportive, then at least sit down, shut up and let those of us who aren't driven by ideology get the job done.

Besides, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Murtha came out against impeachment because he is not generally the type to go along with something like that. This mindless follow the pied piper of the day mentality is what got us George Bush in the first place.

[The Stranger]

19. "Driven by ideology"?

You don't think a Democratic Senator from California that somehow finds it in herself to support the war isn't "driven by ideology"?

How ironic.

This mindless follow the pied piper of the day mentality is what got us George Bush in the first place.

Bullshit. The inability of Democrats like her to stand with the rest of her party against an illegal war is what allows George Bush to continue (along with Cheney, Bolton, Libby, Rumsfeld) and all of the other torturers and war mongers.

[IChing]

11. She is a dem. on the senate committee that has the power to investigate

The Senate Judiciary Committee

Jurisdiction: (1) Constitutional amendments; (2) Civil rights oversight; (3) Property rights; (4) Federal-State relations; (5) Individual rights; (6) Commemorative Congressional Resolutions; and (7) Interstate compacts.

Republican Members
Sam Brownback, KS (Chairman)
Arlen Specter, PA
Lindsey Graham, SC
John Cornyn, TX
Tom Coburn, OK

Democratic Members
Russell Feingold, WI (Ranking Member)
Charles Schumer, NY
Edward Kennedy, MA
Dianne Feinstein, CA
Richard Durbin, IL

She is concurring with Russ Feingold so this is a good thing.

[hwmnbn]

18. I like our team.....

against their team. To a person they are more articulate and effective.

[sandnsea]

8. Need to support House & Senate

People need to get over their popularity issues and support the investigations, even if you don't like the name attached to them.

[Just Me]

13. Agreed!!!

It's imperative we back the investigation.

[Walt Starr]

9. Send your Senators and Congresspeople this information:

To the Honorable <insert title and name here>,

I am writing to express my concern over the president's admission on December 17, 2005, to violations of the law over thirty times since September 11, 2001 and, in complete disregard for the law, his assertion that he will continue to violate the law.

I cite for your convenience, those portions of the United States Code the president has flagrantly and blatantly admitted to violating over thirty times:

TITLE 50--WAR AND NATIONAL DEFENSE

CHAPTER 36--FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE

SUBCHAPTER I--ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE

§ 1802. Electronic surveillance authorization without court order; certification by Attorney General; reports to Congressional committees; transmittal under seal; duties and compensation of communication common carrier; applications; jurisdiction of court

§ 1804. Applications for court orders

§ 1805. Issuance of order

§ 1806. Use of information

§ 1807. Report to Administrative Office of the United States Court and to Congress

§ 1808. Report of Attorney General to Congressional committees; limitation on authority or responsibility of information gathering activities of Congressional committees; report of Congressional committees to Congress

The sanctions for such crimes are covered here:

§ 1809. Criminal sanctions

I am further concerned that the president, the (at the time) National Security director, and other officials may be liable under this portion of the United states code:

§ 1810. Civil liability.

According to this portion of the United States code, Congress must declare war in order for the president to do what Bush did, and it limits the time period to just fifteen days:

§ 1811. Authorization during time of war

Please address these concerns. No president is above the law. George W. Bush is a president, not a king.

Sincerely,
<insert your name here>

[sandnsea]

12. Done, thanks Walt n/t

[DemReadingDU]

14. K&R

[proud patriot]

16. If she pulls this off

I'll toast to her .

[in_cog_ni_to]

17. With HAGEL AND SNOWE??? Veeeeeeery interesting!

:bounce: