Admin Officials Claim Surveillance Law Lapse Has Led to Gaps in Intelligence

[babylonsister]

Admin Officials Claim Surveillance Law Lapse Has Led to Gaps in Intelligence
By Paul Kiel - February 22, 2008, 5:51PM


The administration's strategy became clear yesterday: there will be no compromise. The Democrats will back down and pass the Senate's version of the surveillance bill (with retroactive immunity for the telecoms), or they will be consistently attacked for exposing the country to risk.

The strategy continued today. For the second day in a row, Republicans boycotted talks to reconcile the Senate and House versions of the surveillance bill.

And Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and Attorney General Michael Mukasey got in the act, sending a letter to House intelligence committee Chair Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) that claimed that the lapse of the Protect America Act this past weekend has already had a significant impact on intelligence collection. You can read that whole letter here. They write:

"We have lost intelligence information this past week as a direct result of the uncertainty created by Congress' failure to act. Because of this uncertainty, some partners have reduced cooperation. In particular, they have delayed or refused compliance with our requests to initiate new surveillances of terrorist and other foreign intelligence targets under existing directives issued pursuant to the Protect America Act."

Democrats and experts have said that wiretapping of certain terrorist groups authorized under the Protect America Act will be good for a year. New wiretaps would be authorized under the old FISA law. But the DNI and AG are saying that the telecoms or other private sector partners in wiretapping are balking -- at least in part because it's now unclear whether they will be granted immunity for cooperating with the administration's warrantless wiretapping program. They write that "most partners" are still cooperating, but they've expressed "deep misgivings."

Later on in the letter, they write that the "significant difficulties" the administration had working with the private sector due to the failure to get them immunity "have only grown since expiration of the Act without passage of the bipartisan Senate bill.... Exposing the private sector to the continued risk of billion-dollar class action suits for assisting in efforts to defend the country understandably makes the private sector much more reluctant to cooperate."

more...

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/02/admin_officials_claim_surveill.php

[gateley]

1. Yeah right.

:eyes:

[Solly Mack]

2. They're reluctant to break the law (even more) without immunity?

Isn't that what he is really saying?

[liberal N proud]

3. The bogey man cometh...

We should be afraid.

I am shaking in my boots...:scared:








NOT!

[Vincardog]

4. The parties quit cooperating when the checks quit coming in They are spying on everybody

Every bit of traffic over ATT's lines voice and data is copied and sent to the NSA.

[VP505]

10. Whatever happened to

getting a court order from the FISA court to compel them to comply? That would provide immunity to their telecoms, but then all parties would have to follow the law, probably not what Bu$h wants?

[Vincardog]

15. But But But that is the law. How do you expect the idiot bush to start

following the law now? He never has and is genetically incapable.

[lonestarnot]

5. "intelligence" can't be associated with this administration.

[islandmkl]

6. this whole f****** administration suffers from gaps of intelligence

[bemildred]

13. Beat me to it.

Plenty of gaps in intelligence in the Bush administration. Let's start with 9/11.

[Wizard777]

7. Like Bush is suddenly going to start obeying the law.

Btw, How can either the House or Senate debate Telecom immunity without ever touching on the fact that Bush authorized this crime they are now trying to pardon. Then link that to Nixon and IMPEACHMENT. Can they REALLY be that fucking stupid?

[VP505]

8. If only the Dem's

have the backbone to tell McConnell and Mukasey to offer proof or STFU. If they fold on this I one I think I might as well give up, so many have called, emailed, faxed and written offering support for their standing up to Bu$h on this, they have NO good reason to back down.

[spanone]

9. we've had major gaps in intelligence ever since the chimp took office

[Truth2Tell]

11. I just hope the Dems don't back down!

They need to stick with the response: Bush and the Republicans are liars and fear mongers!

We need to have this fight out to the end... we already know Bush won't back down... let's just pray the Dems don't either.

[razors edge]

12. "private sector partners in wiretapping"

These people would make Francisco Franco blush.

[JBoy]

14. Maybe this will give them some "breathing room"

to translate the reams of shit they've already collected but haven't had the translation resources to actually make any sense of.