ACLU Slams DOJ Investigation of NSA Whistleblower....

[sabra]

http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/23288prs20051230.html

ACLU Slams DOJ Investigation of NSA Whistleblower, Says Government Must Independently Investigate Violation of Wiretap Laws (12/30/2005)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union today sharply criticized a Justice Department investigation into the disclosure of an illegal National Security Agency domestic eavesdropping operation approved by President George W. Bush.


In a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as well as two full-page advertisements in the New York Times, the ACLU has called for the appointment of a special counsel to determine whether President Bush violated federal wiretapping laws by authorizing illegal surveillance of domestic targets.

...

"President Bush broke the law and lied to the American people when he unilaterally authorized secret wiretaps of U.S. citizens. But rather than focus on this constitutional crisis, Attorney General Gonzales is cracking down on critics of his friend and boss. Our nation is strengthened, not weakened, by those whistleblowers who are courageous enough to speak out on violations of the law."


"To avoid further charges of cronyism, Attorney General Gonzales should call off the investigation. Better yet, Mr. Gonzales ought to fulfill his own oath of office and appoint a special counsel to determine whether federal laws were violated."

[acmavm]

1. Al is as likely to start an investigation into the bush** administration

as I am to be crowned queen of England next week.

Ain't neither one gonna happen.

[cyberpj]

2. May be so. But there's the ACLU, pushing for the right thing to do again

Just as they always do. And I don't think they're finished pushing and doing for Sibel Edmonds yet either.

Duers, if you're not yet a member - support these guys!

[swag]

5. Yeah, buddy. Glad I could finally afford to renew my membership:

http://action.aclu.org/site/PageServer?pagename=FJ_donationhome

[cyberpj]

8. Thanks for posting the link for donations and memberships. Save Freedom!

:patriot:

[Laelth]

43. Proud supporter of the ACLU here.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=5721051&mesg_id=5721051

:patriot:

-Laelth

[EFerrari]

3. Thank you, ACLU! You go after Torquemada! n/t

[gulfcoastliberal]

4. K&R for the ACLU - true patriots

Unlike those at the DLC who call them "fevered".

[cyberpj]

7. Like your photos. Seen these as well?.......

[gulfcoastliberal]

27. Most excellent. Saigon68 posts that sometimes.

Along with a few others.

[EFerrari]

6. Link to ACLU 12/29 ad in NYT:

http://www.aclu.org/safefree/spying/23271res20051229.html

[ClintonTyree]

9. I'm sure it would be a thorough and extensive investigation.

:rofl: Sometimes I just crack myself up! Typical bush administration SNAFU, fuck up something to the max and then investigate yourselves. :eyes: Why, I'm willing to wager that they find no evidence of wrongdoing and that "*" has the legal right to do whatever he sees fit in the "war on terra". I'll bet $20 right now, any takers? Anyone? Anyone? (crickets chirping) Anyone?

If everyone were afforded this same "right" to investigate themselves in any criminal act there would never be another person found guilty of any crime. But since bush thinks he's really the president he gets away with it. :eyes: This criminal cabal must go.

[williesgirl]

10. Just joined ACLU for 1st time ever, even tho I'm broke. We have to stop

this criminal president of ours.

[K8-EEE]

13. Good For You!

I also joined last year -- after O'Reilly went off on a fascist rant about them being "terrorists.."

:eyes:

Yes, he who announces to the terrorists that it's OK to blow up the Coit building because it's in SF -- God I hate that bastard.

[annabanana]

30. congratulations to the new "card-carrying member"!

It is money well spent.

[Malva Zebrina]

11. and we are to believe that Gonzales will appoint a special counsel

to investigate out of the lilly pure ethics of his position as Attoney General? Somehow I don't think whoever he appoints will be on the same level as Patrick Fitzgerald, who was appointed by Comey after Ashcroft resigned. Comey has since been ousted.

This is the futility of dealing with this corrupted regime. ACLU at the least has come out as best it could, but it does seem rather the weakest attempt we can muster to bring Bush et al to justice for breaking the law. Demand Gonzales meet the requirements of his office? Does not compute for me and does not encourage my trust that anything at all can come of it.

[K8-EEE]

12. ACLU Is A Nat'l Treasure Constantly Attacked By Fascists...

From McCarthy to O'Reilly, and with good reason, because they hate having ANY defense of our civil liberties, plain and simple!

I give $10 a month automatically (credit card) to the ACLU it is so painless, please join me DU-ers, we really need this organization now more than ever.

[Just Me]

14. Yet, another abuse of power to cover former abuse of power.

I am most grateful to the ACLU.

It's disgusting, though, that this administration gets away with so much bullshit!!! The courts can't stop him because his attorneys play so many games with procedures, bouncing cases back and forth.

[David Zephyr]

15. Fellow DU'ers: Please always use the term "whistle blower" re: this issue.

We must win the war of words and begin doing so immediately.

As the ACLU says, the individual is a "whistle blower" against "illegal" activity and against "criminal conduct by the government and the President of the United States."

This individual will be protected under the Federal Whistle blowing statutes.

Covering up a crime is not protected under the law, even if the Justice Department persecutes the Whistle blower.

Please always use the term whistle blower whenever posting or commenting on this issue.

It was not a "leak", it was intentional whistle blowing. Always make this clear.

[imported_dem]

18. The Federal Whistleblowing laws do not apply to classified information

Under the law, the disclosure can only be made to an individual possesing the required security clearance.

[Walt Starr]

21. Care to cite the United States Code on this for us? n/t

[imported_dem]

26. Senator Carl Levin explains it here

http://levin.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=216635

In addition to addressing jurisdictional issues and troublesome Federal Circuit precedents, our bill would also make important additions to the list of protected disclosures. First, it would subject certain disclosures of classified information to whistleblower protections. However, in order for a disclosure of classified information to be protected, the employee would have to possess a reasonable belief that the disclosure was direct and specific evidence of a violation of law, rule or regulation, gross mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety, or a false statement to Congress on an issue of material fact. A whistleblower must also limit the disclosure to a member of Congress or staff of the executive or legislative branch holding the appropriate security clearance and authorized to receive the information disclosed. Federal agencies covered by the WPA would be required to establish a process to provide confidential advice to employees on how to lawfully make a protected disclosure of classified information to Congress.

[daleo]

36. This seems to qualify.

The whistle-blower was reporting on illegal wiretaps, wasn't he/she? Perhaps I am missing something.

[Big_Mike]

38. It seems to me that he or she is NOT covered...

since the releaser "...must also limit the disclosure to a member of Congress or staff of the executive or legislative branch holding the appropriate security clearance and authorized to receive the information disclosed."

While the press certainly helps keep the government on the straight and narrow, none of them is entitled to the classified information.

I greatly admire those with the moral courage to stand for what they believe in. Unfortunately, there is sometimes a cost to such stands. This will almost assuredly be such a case. I understand why the releaser went to the papers, since the Congressional leadership was briefed and didn't publically complain. The releaser just better have a good jury selection lawyer.

[cascadiance]

40. Well, our courts certainly encourage Phelps' style whistleblowing...

when our courts do NOTHING to protect them when they try to use the "proper" channels which just get buried. Sibel Edmonds I'm sure will tell us all one day how much she was really gagged every place when trying "to do it the right way". All of our branches of government have been failing security whistleblowers, whether it be committee chair Tom Davis in our legislative branch who's trying to passing legislation to protect them in adequate ways while trying to make it look like he is concerned about them, or our attorneys general amongswt others in the executive branch misusing state secret privileges to gag them, or our court systems all the way to SCOTUS not even willing to hear cases that they bring for reasons unexplained.

When you have those kind of obstacles, these whistleblowers are going to find other ways, and perhaps not always legal, since they aren't provided adequate legal means to get out information they deem important to us. And like another said here, there's a difference between whistleblowing information that all of us should be made aware of of other wrongdoing and intentionally leaking information to hurt others that AREN'T involved in wrongdoing, purely for political or other criminal purposes. Judith Miller is NOT a whistleblower!

[ColonelTom]

23. Mr. Zephyr is right on the money - WHISTLEBLOWER, not leaker. n/t

[David Zephyr]

28. Thanks, ColonelTom.

We're together on this.

[greiner3]

16. Damn, I'm glad they're on our side! n/t

[stepnw1f]

41. They Are On Everybody's Side

They protect all civil rights, even those of Rush Limpballs and the KKK. They are non-partisan.

[tridim]

17. It's all BushCo's got

And it's going to backfire. I say, bring it on. Let the Mob investigate themselves.

[lovuian]

19. Agreed we need a special counsel...

The FBI is too intermingled in this mess...

[Rainscents]

20. It looks like, ACLU payment site is busy!!!

Maybe lot of people are donating!!!

[ColonelTom]

22. Watergate redux

Once again, the White House and DoJ are trying to replay Watergate and "get it right" this time by not ceding authority to an independent investigator. Cheney's recent rant about needing "strong and robust" presidential power wasn't directed at the war on terror. It was his way of saying that Nixon should have never allowed an independent special prosecutor to investigate "matters of national security" such as the wiretapping of Daniel Ellsberg in response to his release of the Pentagon Papers in Watergate, and that he won't let it happen in this much larger wiretapping scandal. Remember that Robert Novak criticized the WH recently for the "mistake" of letting Atty. Gen. Ashcroft recuse himself in the Plame affair. Gonzales won't recuse himself without a massive fight. So it's up to us, and organizations like the ACLU, to make sure that the foxes can't get away with investigating the break-in of the henhouse. GO ACLU!!

[annabanana]

31. On the button, there Colonel...

Nice, succinct, germane history lesson for the youngsters among us..

Welcome to DU!:toast:

[alarimer]

24. Why is the DOJ not investigating the actual crime?

Which is spying without a warrant? DUH. It's the Bush Administration. I guess he is allowed to do whatever the hell he wants to, even if it includes violating the Constitution. Here, I think the whistleblower is a hero for bringing this abuse of executive power to the attention of the American people (not that most of them care much at the moment). How Nixonian is this Administration or is it actually worse than Nixon? Cheney and company think the only thing wrong with Watergate was that they got caught. Same situation here. Cheney wants a defacto dictatorship.

[ecoalex]

25. Shades of John Mitchel, who did the same for Nixon

Iraq-Vietnam ,Domestic Spying on Americans, the parallels are so Deja Vu.

Does the repug justice system have the cahonnes to protect our Democracy?

Mitchel didn't, why would you expect Gonsales, the torture attorney to?.

It's rotten to the core in Washington

No Democracy without Justice

[annabanana]

29. Time for another ACLU donation!

Thank God these guys are on the job. I hope everybody here is a proud Card-Carrying Member!

[DemoMemo]

32. Turning the Wrongdoing On Its Head

This is a situation in which truth is turned on its head in an attempt to make probable criminal wrongdoing by the White House and the NSA honorable, patriotic, and necessary. In turn, those who leaked the truth in order to shine a light on wrongdoing will be hounded and prosecuted as the "real" criminals. This is a terrible, slippery slope we are headed down...

[Triana]

33. Just renewed my membership....

...thanks for the reminder.

UNBELIEVABLE that bu$hit's "Justice" Department doesn't want to investigate the CRIME - just the person(s) who reported it. Hardly makes any sense -- except for the fact that the bu$h admin is not worried about protecting this country. They're worried about protecting bu$h's ass. The ACLU, as usual, speaks up for doing the RIGHT thing - rather than the thing that only best protects bu$hit's political and legal buttcheeks.

Thus, they get my $ and support without further hesitation.

[bonito]

34. Kick & rec. n/t

[stickdog]

35. War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Exposing the Crime is the Crime.

[goforit]

37. The Bad investigates the bad.

[cascadiance]

39. Yup, I finally became a cardcarrying member earlier this year!

And added a donation as well...

We gotta stick up for those folks that are still trying to protect what's left of our democracy!

[cantstandbush]

42. Looks like I am going to have to join next week. n/t