Lawmakers demand Obama dump Clapper
Source: The Hill
A bipartisan group of House members is criticizing President Obama for not going far enough in his attempts to rein in the country’s surveillance programs.
In a letter to the White House on Monday, six lawmakers led by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said that the Obama administration should “take immediate and effective safeguards” to reform the National Security Agency (NSA) and make sure that Director of National Intelligence James Clapper is not involved in the process.
“The continued role of James Clapper as Director of National Intelligence is incompatible with the goal of restoring trust in our security programs and ensuring the highest level of transparency,” they wrote...
Clapper has been a subject of lawmakers’ ire since early last year, when he denied that the NSA spied on millions of Americans while under oath.
“Asking Director Clapper, and other federal intelligence officials who misrepresented programs to Congress and the courts, to report to you on needed reforms and the future role of government surveillance is not a credible solution," legislators wrote on Monday...
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/196508-house-lawmakers-ask-obama-to-dump-clapper
Reps. Ted Poe (R-Texas), Paul Broun (R-Ga.), Doug Collins (R-Ga.), Walter Jones (R-N.C.) and Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) also signed the letter.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
OilemFirchen
(7,143 posts)
Indi Guy
(3,992 posts)...for integrity.
randome
(34,845 posts)...whatever.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Sometimes it seems like the only purpose in life is to keep your car from touching another's.[/center][/font][hr]
last1standing
(11,709 posts)Clapper uncontestably lied to congress under oath about matters in which they have direct oversight. He should be in prison.
wildbilln864
(13,382 posts)
jeff47
(26,549 posts)randome
(34,845 posts)If Clapper leaked national security information, he'd be whisked off to sunny Russia where he could be hailed as a hero!
Or...shot in the balls. Depends on the time of day.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]No squirrels were harmed in the making of this post. Yet.[/center][/font][hr]
Maedhros
(10,007 posts)Why do you perform such convoluted gyrations just to defend a Bush Administration piece-of-crap like Clapper?
randome
(34,845 posts)You already know how this goes. If he had answered as you propose, that is the same as 'Yes'. Wyden knew better than to ask that type of question but he did anyways.
It's a very simple Catch-22 situation. No convolutions required. And if Congress doesn't care about this, why would anyone else?
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Everything is a satellite to some other thing.[/center][/font][hr]
Maedhros
(10,007 posts)to defend a Bush Administration holdover?
randome
(34,845 posts)It's no skin off my nose if Clapper loses his job and/or the NSA crumbles into dust and blows away in the wind.
I'm simply pointing out what I think is the truth. Accuracy is to be prized over all else, even when pitchforks and firebrands are at the door.
Someone who points out something that may have been missed can be one's best friend if one is open to seeing things from a different point of view.
Our enemies aren't going to do that.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]“If you're not committed to anything, you're just taking up space.”
Gregory Peck, Mirage (1965)[/center][/font][hr]
Maedhros
(10,007 posts)It is, after all, an objective fact: when asked if the NSA collected data of any kind from U.S. citizens, Clapper said "No" and leaked, vetted NSA documents showed "Yes." Period.
Did Wyden play hardball with Clapper, setting him up with a Catch 22? Maybe. If so, I say GOOD JOB RON. Do what you need to do to expose the crimes of the NSA.
Even so, Clapper did not need to perjure himself. He had the question in advance - he could have requested closed session to answer it, if "national security" was really his concern.
randome
(34,845 posts)He wasn't 'caught' in a lie. He informed the committee later that he gave an untruthful answer. Call that a lie if you want. I suppose that's technically accurate. But it's such a tiny event in the political gamesmanship they all play that I find it ludicrous to think it forms some kind of 'gotcha!' moment.
It's obvious that Congress doesn't care about Clapper's answer. It's a non-issue to them.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]You have to play the game to find out why you're playing the game. -Existenz[/center][/font][hr]
Maedhros
(10,007 posts)randome
(34,845 posts)He could have come up with some more convincing lie, though. Obviously he isn't good at lying which, in a way, should be comforting.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/07/james-clapper-apologizes-to-congress-for-clearly-erroneous-testimony/
“In light of Sen. Wyden’s reference to ‘dossiers’ and faced with the challenge of trying to give an unclassified answer about our intelligence collection activities, many of which are classified, I simply didn’t think of Section 215 of the Patriot Act,” which allows the government to collect “business records” or metadata from telephone and Internet companies, Clapper said. “Instead, my answer addressed collection of the content of communications.”
In any event, politicians 'clarify' their previously made remarks all the time. This is just more of the same, IMO. And, again, it's Congress that determines if he lied or not and they clearly don't think it worth the trouble.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]"If you're bored then you're boring." -Harvey Danger[/center][/font][hr]
Maedhros
(10,007 posts)The rest of Congress not stepping up is a big problem.
AngryAmish
(25,704 posts)If they go easy they will reveal an affair. If the NSA plays hardball it will be child pornography "found" on computers.
They look after their own.
giftedgirl77
(4,713 posts)Maybe the should make a counter offer, when Issa admits to all of the bullshit & misstatements that have occurred in countless hearings over the POTUS time in office then maybe it will be considered. Until then Issa can fuck off.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)
SamKnause
(13,088 posts)I am again in agreement with Representative Alan Grayson.
Too bad it wasn't a majority of Progressives, or Democratic lawmakers calling for action.
I despise Issa.
I wonder what his angle is ?
I am not familiar with the other 4 Republicans.
I disagree with them 95% of the time.
This time I am in agreement with them.
It does not change my opinion of them.
OilemFirchen
(7,143 posts) SamKnause
(13,088 posts)I am aware of Issa's wealth.
I am aware of Issa's criminal background.
I am aware of his numerous frivolous investigations.
What is his agenda in the NSA issue ?
Clapper deserves to be fired and prosecuted.
OilemFirchen
(7,143 posts)What do YOU think his angle is?
Ed Suspicious
(8,879 posts)
brett_jv
(1,245 posts)His angle is that he believes he can make Obama look bad by raising a stink/calling attention to something Obama is doing or not doing. This being pretty much his raison d' etre.
No angle beyond that, just an opportunity (he thinks) to blemish Obama that he can't let pass ... whine about Clapper not being fired even though he wasn't honest under oath.
AAO
(3,300 posts)Issa's angle has always and only been to be against President Obama, like the rest of the Teabaggers that signed on. Alan Grayson signed it because it's a very good idea for the good of the country.
Wilms
(26,795 posts)You're OK with being lied to?
Purveyor
(29,876 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)throats may cloud his great accomplishment of the ACA. I had hoped for change.
Progressive dog
(6,899 posts)but it wouldn't include any Democrats.
frazzled
(18,402 posts)That would make a whole 6 out of 435 Representatives in the House calling for something. That's a whole 1.37% of the House breaking down the doors and demanding action!
I ask you, in all the years of the Bush administration, when, say, the entire Black Caucus of the House wrote a letter demanding something, did The Hill ever even report about it?
Shame on everyone for eating this up.
JoeyT
(6,785 posts)Thinking the law applies to rich people or those that work for them. The nerve!
I really shouldn't have to point out that this is sarcasm, but it's getting hard to tell nowadays.
adieu
(1,009 posts)Clapper, Michael Hayden, that Air Force general in charge of technology information gathering. They should all be fired, tried for treason and shot out back.
bvar22
(39,909 posts)Shame.
It is also a shame that the Party Leadership would use up all the Dry Powder saved up over the last 20 years to Circle-the-Wagons around Republican tool like Clapper.
The man LIED.
I'll stand with Grayson on this one.
bitchkitty
(7,349 posts)
reflection
(6,286 posts)Dump that guy like yesterday's garbage.
RC
(25,592 posts)This time the usual suspects are defending the NSA because Darrell Issa says he wants something done?
Come on people, the NSA is a renegade agency. They need to be reined in. Just because one of your favorite whipping boys is for something, does not mean you have to be against it. Stopped clocks and all that. It is the actions and the reasons for them that count, regardless of any of your binary, love/hate relationships.
JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)RC
(25,592 posts)The NSA is out of control and something needs to be done. Someone has to speak up.
JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)ISSA and the rest of the GOP have no interest in "fixing" the NSA, and anything they put forward will do nothing of value.
They'll handle it like the handle the IRS, Benghazi or the ACA ... endless investigations that go nowhere, but which allow to add the word "scandal" to another topic ...
The "IRS Scandal", the "Benghazi scandal", the "ACA scandal", and now ... the "NSA Scandal".
The details of any of this is irrelevant to the GOP, they just want to be able to append the word "scandal" to it.
Alan should be smart enough to know this.
RC
(25,592 posts)
struggle4progress
(118,236 posts)RC
(25,592 posts)JI7
(89,241 posts)Trillo
(9,154 posts)than the one you already do know.
TheKentuckian
(25,020 posts)Clapper is piece of bushshit who's only involvement with a Democratic administration should be on the wrong end of a prosecution.
The shame here is Democrats sitting on their hands and swallowing their tongues until Issa could steal the show.
Stop circling the wagons for these smelly turds, cut them loose.
struggle4progress
(118,236 posts)Darrell Issa: Enter Stage Right
By Nick Baumann | September/October 2009 Issue
... The thirty-seven page pre-publication copy [PDF] of Issa's report publically charges the Obama administration with criminal activity. According to WorldNetDaily's Jerome Corsi, "It charges the Obama administration with violating federal laws to advance what the Government Accounting Office has characterized as an unlawful ‘covert campaign', using federal resources ‘to activate a sophisticated propaganda and lobbying campaign'" ...
Congressman Issa Accuses Obama Admin of Criminal Activity
Tuesday, 17 August 2010 16:44
Written by Raven Clabough
The Republican set to lead an important committee that will have jurisdiction over many government operations said Wednesday that he expects the White House to respond to "several hundred" letters ...
Darrell Issa: Obama must answer 'several hundred' inquiries
By David November 3, 2010 9:00 am
The Republican congressman who is taking over responsibility for congressional oversight called President Obama's administration "one of the most corrupt administrations" ...
Issa says Obama administration is 'one of most corrupt'
By Philip Rucker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, January 2, 2011; 7:33 PM
... The California Republican, who will take the reins of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has ambitious plans for that panel, from going after WikiLeaks to investigating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage giants ...
Obama Foe Darrell Issa Sets House Oversight Agenda, Targets WikiLeaks
Tom Kavanagh
Morning Editor
<3 January 2011>
... Late Monday, Issa released a .. report accusing the White House of being complicit in driving up oil prices ...
Rep. Issa Report: Obama Deliberately Driving Up Fuel Prices
By Amanda Carey, Daily Caller
<Fox | May 25, 2011>
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) on Friday charged the Obama administration with allowing Occupy DC protesters to remain illegally camped on federal ground in order to avoid political embarrassment ... “The public health and safety situation is in itself disturbing and the refusal to provide documents about the Park Service’s decision making leaves a lingering perception that long-standing prohibitions against encampments have been ignored to avoid a politically embarrassing situation for the administration,” Issa said ...
Issa: Obama ignoring Occupy DC to avoid ‘political embarrassment’
January 13th, 2012
... Norman Ornstein, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, ... said the committee should have completed a detailed examination into gun-walking operations during the Bush administration ... “(Issa) is aiming not at how did this happen, what can we do about it and let’s let heads role if we find out there was miscreants here,” Ornstein said. “It’s all about a presumed cover-up afterward. While cover-ups can be worse than the crime, that’s only a rational if you have done the work first to see about the crime and if you are serious about real oversight. “What this showed was Chairman Issa wasn’t serious about oversight. He’s serious about ‘gotcha’” ...
Issa takes center stage in dispute with Obama administration
By Christopher Cadelagonoon
June 23, 2012
... Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, called a Wednesday hearing to explore whether the Health and Human Services Department’s three-year demonstration project to give bonuses to private health plans that upgrade patient services was “designed to offset Obamacare’s massive cuts to Medicare Advantage ahead of an election” ...
Issa accuses HHS of using Medicare pilot to ‘buy’ election for Obama
By Charles S. Clark
July 25, 2012
... California Congressman Darrell Issa, (R-Calif), no stranger to headline-making charges, says Emperor Obama and his ‘czars” had defenseless General Motors and Chrysler by the throat and used that grip to squeeze the fuel efficiency concessions out of them. His charge comes with a new report from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Issa is its chairman ...
Issa: Obama strong-armed auto companies
John Latta | August 13, 2012
... “As late as last week,” Issa claimed, “the administration’s still trying to say there’s a few rogue agents in Cincinnati, when in fact the indication is they were directly being ordered from Washington” ...
Darrell Issa Accuses Obama Administration: IRS Targeting ‘Directly Ordered From Washington’
by Evan McMurry | 10:45 am, June 2nd, 2013
House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) responded to President Obama’s forceful condemnation of the GOP’s effort to portray his administration’s response to the attacks on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya as a cover-up on Monday, suggesting that the president sought to downplay the severity of the incident by describing the killings of four Americans as an “act of terror” rather than a “terrorist attack” ...
Issa: Obama Covered Up Benghazi Terrorism By Calling It An ‘Act Of Terror’
By Igor Volsky on May 13, 2013 at 1:58 pm
... President Barack Obama seizes greater political mileage and media attention through crisis rather than through solution. Time and time again, he brings our nation to the brink of fiscal emergency ...
Darrell Issa: Obama, the crisis president
By DARRELL ISSA / For the Register
Published: Sept. 30, 2013 Updated: 3:32 p.m.
Representative Darrell Issa argued this morning that HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius should face the possibility of termination and has done unacceptably poor work on the president’s signature legislation. ”If she cannot reorganize to get the team in to meet his agenda, then she shouldn’t be there,” he said ...
Issa: Obama ‘Missing Point of Management 101’
By Patrick Brennan
October 27, 2013 10:49 AM
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is accusing the Obama administration of stonewalling a congressional investigation into lapses in the security clearance process that was responsible for a flawed background check of former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden ...
Issa Accuses Obama Administration of Stonewalling Snowden Probe
By Dion Nissenbaum
12:05 pm Dec 17, 2013
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., accused the Obama White House of waging a "war on guns," based on reports of "rogue" ATF operations in 2013 ...
Issa: Obama's ATF Waging 'War on Guns' With Sting Operations
Sunday, 12 Jan 2014 11:17 PM
<NewsMax>
By Greg Richter
freshwest
(53,661 posts)struggle4progress
(118,236 posts)
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Clapper is not fit to head or speak for the NSA surveillance project. Obama needs to appoint someone new.
fujiyama
(15,185 posts)agreeing with Issa on anything.
But Clapper should be out of there. And why is Grayson the only Democrat showing any integrity in the House on this issue? At least in the Senate we have Sanders and Wyden making a stink out of this.
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)Don't let the door hit you, where the good lord split you...
