Posted by D. Cupples | It's only natural that President Bush desires retroactive immunity for telecom companies that violated laws while helping his Administration tap Americans' phone calls and emails: when telecoms get hauled into court, their records get subpoenaed -- records likely doubling as evidence of Administration officials' crimes.
But Telecom Amnesty would be gut punch to us taxpayers, depriving us of our right to know whether our well-paid "public servants" committed crimes. Last week, the House passed a FISA bill that excluded Telecom Amnesty. That bill is now bogged down in the Senate, where Republicans and twelve Democrats are pushing for Telecom Amnesty, including five Dems connected to an industry-linked "think tank." Investigative journalist Matt Renner reports:
"Third Way, a non-profit 'progressive' think tank that is funded and controlled by hedge fund managers, corporate lawyers and business executives has advised Sen. Jay Rockefeller on a domestic surveillance bill that includes immunity for telecommunications companies with which Third Way board members have close ties.
"Rockefeller is the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and has been the leading Democratic proponent of granting immunity to telecommunication companies that allegedly gave spy agencies access to their communication networks and databases without a warrant....
"'We have advised Senator Rockefeller on messaging and have talked to his staff regarding FISA,' Matt Bennett, vice president of Third Way said. 'We believe there should be immunity and have been cooperating with [Rockefeller's staff]....
"'I told him that we thought it would be helpful for [Rockefeller] to talk about the reasons for providing immunity to the telecoms,' Bennett said. 'We thought it would be a bad idea to allow these companies to be held legally liable for cooperating with the government ... you want to encourage the cooperation of not just the telecom industry, but all other industries in the future.'
"This talking point stuck, and remains one of the main arguments made by proponents of granting retroactive immunity." (Truthout)
Yes, this talking point has stuck -- despite its fallacies. Qwest Communications reportedly refused to abet the Bush Administration's warrantless wiretapping after lawyers informed company officials of the likely illegal nature of the Administration's activities. (NY Times)
A few weeks ago, we learned that one telecom stopped its wiretapping after the FBI forgot to pay its bills. (Reuters) In other words, telecom companies were perfectly capable of saying "No" to the government when the money wasn't coming in: why not when they learned that some wiretapping would violate the law? Obviously, patriotism wasn't that company's top priority.
Using the talking points that Third Way devised, National Intelligence Director Michael McConnell wrote a New York Times op-ed supporting Telecom Amnesty. Consider the source: McConnell twice gave questionable testimony to Congress when lobbying for greater domestic-spying powers. In one case, McConnell had to retract his statements.
Another questionable but popular talking point: that 9/11 made warrantless wiretapping a necessity. Evidence suggests that the Administration's wiretapping program was underway before 9/11. (Washington Post)
With specious talking points flying around like mosquitoes in a Florida swamp, it's hard to know what to believe. Incidentally, Renner's article lists some of Third Way's people and their industry connections.
UPDATE: MSNBC's Keith Olbermann gave a chilling commentary explaining FISA and Telecom Amnesty (see video).
Crooks & Liars has a transcript of Olbermann's comments, and Memeorandum has other bloggers' commentary.
Other BN-Politics' Posts:
* Domestic Spying Started Before 9/11 & Money Changed Hands
* U.S. Intel Chief Made False Statements re: Domestic Spying
* FBI Made Hundreds of Data-Mining Errors
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