Posted by D. Cupples | By a vote of 227-189, the House passed the RESTORE Act of 2007, an attempt to reduce the Bush Administration's power to engage in warrantless wiretapping that was granted when Congress passed the so-called "Protect America" Act.
Reportedly, the RESTORE Act does not give retroactive immunity to telecomcompanies that illegally helped the Bush Administration's domestic surveillance efforts. Given the numerical reality of Democrats' so-called "control" of Congress, the Act may not pass the Senate (BN-Politics-1). Even if it does,...
President Bush would likely veto it, as he is bizarrely adamant about granting immunity to telecoms.
Evidence surfaced last month that the Bush Administration had asked at least one telecom company to help with domestic surveillance months before the attacks of September 11, 2001 (Washington Post). Click here for more about telecom amnesty.
Update: yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a revised FISA bill that also excludes telecom amnesty, according to the New York Times. For other bloggers' comments, see Memeorandum.
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