News The crux of the NSA spying smoke screen

[turbo]

Exactly!, and another thing about the spying - is Bushco can gather - in secrect - incriminating evidence about Republican congressmen and use it to coerce them to toe the line.

Bush does not have to spy on Congressmen. He can go to his good friend Jack Abramoff (whom he suddenly cannot remember) and ask him who is dirty and who is paying them off. Jack will know, as will anybody on K street.

 

[Skyhunter]

Bush does not have to spy on Congressmen. He can go to his good friend Jack Abramoff (whom he suddenly cannot remember) and ask him who is dirty and who is paying them off. Jack will know, as will anybody on K street.

Actually it is Rove that twists the arms.

The White House has been twisting arms to ensure that no Republican member votes against President Bush in the Senate Judiciary Committee's investigation of the administration's unauthorized wiretapping.

Congressional sources said Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove has threatened to blacklist any Republican who votes against the president. The sources said the blacklist would mean a halt in any White House political or financial support of senators running for re-election in November.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/02/06/rove-threatens-republican_n_15216.html

 

[SOS2008]

Actually it is Rove that twists the arms.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/02/06/rove-threatens-republican_n_15216.html

You'd think this would be THE wake up call for them about the dictator of the U.S. If they made this public information, they would have a better chance for reelection without White House support—idiots.

<insert smilie smelling the coffee here>

God I wish Fitzpatrick would hurry up with an indictment of Rove.

 

[Astronuc]

Inquiry Into Wiretapping Article Widens
By DAVID JOHNSTON, NYTimes
Published: February 12, 2006

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 — Federal agents have interviewed officials at several of the country's law enforcement and national security agencies in a rapidly expanding criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding a New York Times article published in December that disclosed the existence of a highly classified domestic eavesdropping program, according to government officials.

The investigation, which appears to cover the case from 2004, when the newspaper began reporting the story, is being closely coordinated with criminal prosecutors at the Justice Department, the officials said. People who have been interviewed and others in the government who have been briefed on the interviews said the investigation seemed to lay the groundwork for a grand jury inquiry that could lead to criminal charges

and

Republican Speaks Up, Leading Others to Challenge Wiretaps
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG, NYTimes
Published: February 11, 2006

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 — When Representative Heather A. Wilson broke ranks with President Bush on Tuesday to declare her "serious concerns" about domestic eavesdropping, she gave voice to what some fellow Republicans were thinking, if not saying.

Now they are speaking up — and growing louder.

In interviews over several days, Congressional Republicans have expressed growing doubts about the National Security Agency program to intercept international communications inside the United States without court warrants. A growing number of Republicans say the program appears to violate the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the 1978 law that created a court to oversee such surveillance, and are calling for revamping the FISA law.

Ms. Wilson and at least six other Republican lawmakers are openly skeptical about Mr. Bush's assertion that he has the inherent authority to order the wiretaps and that Congress gave him the power to do so when it authorized him to use military force after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Hah!

The White House, in a turnabout, briefed the full House and Senate Intelligence Committee on the program this week, after Ms. Wilson, chairwoman of the subcommittee that oversees the N.S.A., had called for a full-scale Congressional investigation. But some Republicans say that is not enough.

"I don't think that's sufficient," Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, said. "There is considerable concern about the administration's just citing the president's inherent authority or the authorization to go to war with Iraq as grounds for conducting this program. It's a stretch."

The criticism became apparent on Monday, when Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales was the sole witness before the Senate Judiciary Committee in a hearing on the legality of the eavesdropping. Mr. Gonzales faced tough questioning from 4 of the 10 Republicans on the panel, including its chairman, Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

I am quite sure that the Congress did not intend for the president to circumvent FISA, which is quite clear on the limitations of wiretapping or eavesdropping in the US.