The Bush legislation foolishly passed in August by Congress is significantly about spying on Americans, said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). Rhode Island Senator Nails Bush On Spying And Tyrannical Legal ClaimsBy Cliff Montgomery – Dec. 24th, 2007The Bush Administration’s drive to turn U.S. law into little more than King George’s momentary whim was the focal point of a stinging Dec. 7th Senate floor statement from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). The senator proclaimed that Bush’s Office of Legal Counsel has concluded:”An Executive order cannot limit a President. […] Rather than violate an Executive order, the President has instead modified or waived it.”Whitehouse, a former U.S. attorney, deftly replied that Bush is claiming that “I don’t have to follow my own rules, and if I break them, I don’t have to tell you that I am breaking them.”We quote from Whitehouse’s powerful remarks below:“[…] I rise to discuss…a question that involves the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.”We will shortly consider making right the things that are wrong with the so-called ‘Protect America Act’, a second-rate piece of legislation passed in a stampede in August at the behest of the Bush Administration. It is worth for a moment considering why making this right is so important.”President Bush pressed this legislation not only to establish how our Government can spy on foreign agents but how his administration can spy on Americans. Make no mistake, the legislation we passed in August is significantly about spying on Americans–a business this administration should not be allowed to get into except under the closest supervision.”We have a plain and tested device for keeping tabs on Americans. It is our Constitution. Our Constitution has as its most elemental provision the separation of governmental powers into three separate branches.”When the Government feels it is necessary to spy on its own citizens, each branch has a role.”The executive branch executes the laws and conducts surveillance.”The legislative branch sets the boundaries that protect Americans from improper Governmentsurveillance.”The judicial branch oversees whether the Government has followed the Constitution and the laws that protect U.S. citizens from violations of their privacy and their civil rights.”It sounds basic, but even an elementary understanding of this balance of powers eludes the Bush Administration. So now we have to repair this flawed and shoddy Protect America Act. […]”For years, under the Bush Administration, the Office of Legal Counsel within the Department of Justice has issued highly classified, secret legal opinions related to surveillance. This is an administration that hates answering to an American court, that wants to grade its own exams, and OLC is the inside place the administration goes to get legal support for its spying program.”As a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I was given access to those secret opinions and spent hours poring over them. Sitting in that secure room, as a lawyer, as a former U.S. attorney, legal counsel to Rhode Island’s Governor, and State attorney general, I wasincreasingly dismayed and amazed as I read on.”To give an example of what I read, I have gotten three legal propositions from these secret OLC opinions declassified. Here they are, as accurately as my note-taking could reproduce them from the classified documents. […]One:
- An Executive order cannot limit a President. There is no constitutional requirement for a President to issue a new Executive order whenever he wishes to depart from the terms of a previous Executive order. Rather than violate an Executive order, the President has instead modified or waived it.
No. 2:
- The President, exercising his constitutional authority under article II, can determine whether an action is a lawful exercise of the President’s authority under article II.
And 3:
- The Department of Justice is bound by the President’s legal determinations.
[…] “Bear in mind that the so-called ‘Protect America Act’ that was stampeded through this great body in August provides no–zero–statutory protections for Americans traveling abroad from Government wiretapping.”None if you are a businesswoman traveling on business overseas; none if you are a father taking the kids on vacation to the Caribbean; none if you are visiting your aunts or uncles in Italy or Ireland; none even if you are a soldier of the United States of America in uniform serving overseas. […]”So unless Congress acts, here is what legally prevents this President from wiretapping Americans traveling abroad at will–nothing. Nothing. That was among the most egregious flaws in the bill passed during the August stampede orchestrated by the Bush Administration, and this OLC opinion shows why we need to correct it.”Like what you’re reading so far? Then why not order a full year (52 issues) of thee-newsletter for only $15? A major article covering an story not being told in the Corporate Press will be delivered to your email every Monday morning for a full year, for less than 30 cents an issue. Order Now!
