Cheney: Credit checks aren't illegal (re: Pentagon and CIA looking a banking records)

[maddezmom]

WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday the Pentagon and CIA are not violating people's rights by examining the banking and credit records of hundreds of Americans and others suspected of terrorism or espionage in the United States.

National security letters permit the executive branch to seek records about people in terrorism and spy investigations without a judge's approval or grand jury subpoena.

"The Defense Department gets involved because we've got hundreds of bases inside the United States that are potential terrorist targets," Cheney said.

"The Department of Defense has legitimate authority in this area. This is an authority that goes back three or four decades. It was reaffirmed in the Patriot Act," he said. "It's perfectly legitimate activity. There's nothing wrong with it or illegal. It doesn't violate people's civil rights."

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070114/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/pentagon_bank_records


Cheney admits expanded military spying role inside US 4 minutes ago



WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Vice-President Dick Cheney has admitted that the US military and CIA have been spying on the financial dealings of Americans -- intelligence gathering normally authorized only by civilian policing agencies.

The New York Times broke the story overnight, reporting that the Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency had been using "national security letters" to obtain the banking and credit records of Americans and foreigners suspected of terrorist activities in the United States.

The US military and the CIA have long been restricted in their spying activities inside the United States and are barred from conducting traditional domestic law enforcement work in the country.

But Cheney confirmed the main outlines of the report and defended the Pentagon and CIA activities as legal and necessary to protect military installations inside the United States.

"This is a dramatic story, but I think it's important for people to understand here this is a legitimate security effort that's been underway for a long time and it does not represent a new departure from the standpoint of our efforts to protect ourselves against terrorist attack," he said on Fox News Sunday.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070114/wl_mideast_afp/usattacksintelligence_070114153813

finally out from the bunker :eyes:

[billybob537]

1. Actually Dickless ass boil they are

You need a warrant or supeona to get them.

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[acmavm]

2. Let's see who's records you're snooping into you traitor bastard. I bet it

ain't Bill Gates or Warren Buffets.

More like Code Pink and Cindy Sheehan.

[Robbien]

9. Not just protesters, think bigger. Any political opponent is fair game

to them. You just know Pelosi's records have been scrutinized by this gang.

[acmavm]

10. Goes without saying. And yet, they refuse to let anyone see their

personal records.

[wordpix]

41. I would like to see FatFuck's financial records--no doubt Halliburton & KBR payments in there

[EST]

3. Credit checks, at least in theory,

are only attempted with the request and specific authorization of the checkee.

The crippling of basic rights in this country is appalling and the false information served up by unscrupulous power and greed gives no one a chance for accurate decision making.

[Rose Siding]

4. What an SOB. This, even as he pushes to classify his own visitors lists.

Secrecy- It's just for ME ME ME! Cue devilish cackle.

[Hotler]

5. Impeach Cheney first. eom.

[krispos42]

24. Impeach both at once

For two reasons:

1) They are both equally guilty of the same criminal acts and breaking the same laws
2) One will pardon the other in the name of 'healing' if they are impeached seperately.

Our Constitution provides for the government to self-correct when it goes awry, but the people have to have the balls to pressure the correctors to do it.

My biggest fear was that Cheney would resign during the period after the Repubs lost the election but before the new Congress was sworn in. Then the GOP would put their heads together and pick a new Veep for the lame-duck Senate to confirm, probably McCain. They've already lost the Senate, so McCain moving up would not change the balance of power. Yeah, the Governor of Arizona would probably appoint a Dem, but again, balance of power does not shift.

Now Cheney can't be impeached. And if Bush is impeached, then McCain becomes President by law and Constitution. McCain then, to 'heal the nation', pardons both Bush and Cheney.

But they lost their window of opportunity. Now if they are both impeached simultaniously, Pelosi becomes President and gets to pick the Veep.

She would not be able to pick a Senator to be Veep, though, because that would affect the Senate. Either an outsider or a House member. Like, maybe, John Edwards. Or Kucinich (damn, I keep forgetting how to spell his name) or Waxman.

If Pelosi becomes President, then the Republicans will make a stink about how she impeached for the sole purpose of her becoming President. The counter to this, of course, is that if the Republican Majority had been doing their jobs instead of pursuing lobbyist money and teen pages, they would have impeached both of them and put Hastert in the White House. A scary thought to people that actually, um, think, but an acceptable outcome to the Repubs. And they could have had McCain as the Veep and set him up for a presidential run in '08.

[leesa]

7. Yet we aren't allowed to know who this traitor talked to about our energy

policy. He took it all the way to the Supreme Court to prevent us from knowing what was discussed at the meetings about our nation's energy policies. I guess SOME terrorists have the right to privacy, eh Dick?

[gratuitous]

8. Not illegal?

Then why weren't they very forthcoming about the program, and initially denied that it was happening at all? Now, sure it's happening, but only for very bad people. Soon, it will be, yeah, we're checking everybody's financial records, but what's the big deal? If you've done nothing wrong, you've got nothing to hide.

But strangely enough, who attended Mr. Cheney's Energy Task Force meetings early in 2001 and who comes and goes at the White House are state secrets, to be kept under wraps for reasons of national security.

[ihelpu2see]

11. I knew IT!! I was advised by my ON-LINE broker that some-one early this

Spring ('06) had been snooping around my account.... and this all started when I began to give money to Ned Lamont's Campaign.... No money taken, no identity theft (yet) just someone with a Great Britain IP address snooping my __ - Trade account.

Should I file an FOIA with the Pentagon to see if it was them???

[aggiesal]

20. And they made it illegal for your broker to notify you that it happened. n/t

[salin]

12. the restriciton on CIA and Pentagon domestic spying - originate from where?

I don't recall. Seems important in understanding what addtional laws these folks have been casually throwing aside.

[maddezmom]

13. not sure....originally in 1984 FISA?

The manual, described by the Army as a "major revision" to intelligence-gathering guidelines, addresses policies and procedures for wiretapping Americans, among other issues.

The original guidelines, from 1984, said the Army could seek to wiretap people inside the United States on an emergency basis by going to the secret court set up by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), or by obtaining certification from the attorney general "issued under the authority of section 102(a) of the Act."

That last phrase is missing from the latest manual, which says simply that the Army can seek emergency wiretapping authority pursuant to an order issued by the FISA court "or upon attorney general authorization."

It makes no mention of the attorney general doing so under FISA.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003524358_manual14.html?syndication=rss

[salin]

15. It strikes me as an important thing to learn/understand

When I worked in DC it was just common knowledge that the CIA did foreign spying and the FBI did domestic - and there was a not-to-be-crossed line - but I really don't know the origin of that line.

Per the pentagon - wonder if it wouldn't also be tied up to the idea that the military should not be fulfilling 'police' type functions within the US borders?

[The Stranger]

14. We have a Democratic Congress -- why hasn't this criminal been arrested yet?

What in the fuck are we waiting for?

[Zorra]

16. What is not being said is that anyone that is not a registered repuke

is a suspected terrorist.

[aggiesal]

17. Cheney: Credit Checks Aren't Illegal

WASHINGTON (AP) - Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday the Pentagon and CIA are not violating people's rights by examining the banking and credit records of hundreds of Americans and others suspected of terrorism or espionage in the United States.

National security letters permit the executive branch to seek records about people in terrorism and spy investigations without a judge's approval or grand jury subpoena.

``The Defense Department gets involved because we've got hundreds of bases inside the United States that are potential terrorist targets,'' Cheney said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6344846,00.html

Does FISA court come to mind?
Again we don't have a problem with the gov't looking into citizens background, just do it legally.
Go to the FISA court and state your case.

[rocktivity]

18. Fine, then let's check YOURS, Dick!

Let's see how much Halliburton money you're taking in!

:headbang:
rocknation

[The Wielding Truth]

21. I'm with you, rocknation!

[Rex]

19. Cheney to American democracy - 'Go fuck yourself!'

I mean seriously, could we have a bigger dick in charge than Dickless Cheney? :eyes:

[dailykoff]

22. Like the Pentagon can balance its own checkbook

and they need to snoop into ours? How many billions have conveniently gone "missing" from the Pentagon in the last six years, anyway?

[Gman]

23. The right of an Imperial presidency

[AzDar]

25. All right, DICK...let's have a look at your records, ya bastard. n/t

[rodeodance]

26. Cheney admits expanded military spying role inside US

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/usattacksintelligence

Cheney admits expanded military spying role inside US

Sun Jan 14, 10:39 AM ET



WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Vice-President Dick Cheney has admitted that the US military and CIA have been spying on the financial dealings of Americans -- intelligence gathering normally authorized only by civilian policing agencies.


The New York Times broke the story overnight, reporting that the Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency had been using "national security letters" to obtain the banking and credit records of Americans and foreigners suspected of terrorist activities in the United States.

The US military and the CIA have long been restricted in their spying activities inside the United States and are barred from conducting traditional domestic law enforcement work in the country.

But Cheney confirmed the main outlines of the report and defended the Pentagon and CIA activities as legal and necessary to protect military installations inside the United States.

"This is a dramatic story, but I think it's important for people to understand here this is a legitimate security effort that's been underway for a long time and it does not represent a new departure from the standpoint of our efforts to protect ourselves against terrorist attack," he said on Fox News Sunday.

[MadMaddie]

27. Anything they say I believe the exact opposite...

American Citizens should be aware they are being spied on...if they disagree with this Administration.

[Gman]

28. No, it's important for people to understand

that this is precisely the second article of impeachment against Nixxon.

http://watergate.info/impeachment/impeachment-articles.shtml

[EFerrari]

29. You bet. Please K&R this, people.

K&R

[The Backlash Cometh]

34. You know, I see the pattern. If they admit to the crime, it's not really a crime, is it?

I see it on the local level too. They do criminal things, but they fess up to it like there's nothing wrong with it. And they always get away with it.

[EFerrari]

35. Yeah, that's their strategy. Name it, diffuse it, move on. Exactly.

:kick:

[The Backlash Cometh]

36. The only way to put a stop to it, is to copy what they're doing, until

it becomes apparent that we've reached a breaking point. Well, on the other hand, they're toying with the lives of our kids. Frankly, I think they're daring us to take action, just throwing our kids into their war, seeing how much human sacrifice we'll tolerate.

[EFerrari]

37. Yes. That's where we got to with Nixon. How many lives are we willing

to extinguish?

It's pretty simple, really.

edit: oops

[The Backlash Cometh]

39. I say we take the toll of the Vietnam war, 52,000. Then add the 3000

we've lost in the Iraq War. Bush doesn't get to do a do-over because he failed history. He is adding to the same mistake. Therefore, Americans have tolerated 55,000 deaths to a politician who can't admit that when you make such a grave error, you end the dying, and not try to legitimize your mistake by continuing to sacrifice other people's children.

You know, when Bush said the responsibility was his, and that he made a mistake, I think he was bluffing. I think he was just trying to buy himself more time into this blood smorgasbord, thinking that we'll just keep escalating the money to protect our kids who are there now, when we all know that money gets diverted to Halliburton anyways.

The man is batshit crazy.

[aquart]

30. Exactly how many Americans are under suspicion of treason?

Ask for the numbers.

How many Americans are planning to blow up their neighbors?

How many Americans have called the MidEast? Europe? Their grandmothers?

[AzDar]

31. How much more will we take....???

[Boo Boo]

32. This is the second "admission" by the Admin (Cheney) since the Dems won

control of Congress. They sort of seem to be coming out of nowhere. I think the Admin is trying to bait Dems into going after this as a diversion. We've already seen that the Admin can at least break even in this debate, so it's not nearly the political loser for them that Iraq is. They'd love to have a big debate over this issue, and bash Dems as being soft on terror and not willing to do what it takes to Protect America(tm). And then, if a bill restraining Bush did get past the Senate, he'd veto it... and a great time would be had by all.

Meanwhile, Bush/Cheney are driving full-tilt toward an attack on Iran.

That's THE issue. Iran. Dems should not take Cheney's bait. They should not allow themselves to be used to distract the public from the most important issue facing the nation. Everybody should be focused like a laser beam on Iraq, and Bush's policy toward Iran (Regime Change) and the region.

Public polls show that 70 percent of the people want Congress to take the lead on Iraq; they don't trust Bush anymore. Dems need to realize they have a mandate, and use it. They should not allow themselves to be sidetracked by an issue that, at best, will evenly split public opinion, and allow Bush room to maneuver us into an expanded regional conflict in the Middle East.

Cheney is trying to change to subject.

[LynnTheDem]

33. The Posse Comitatus Act

Another law spit on by the bush regime.

Another addition to the growing American military dictatorship.

[Contrite]

38. Okay, then you can tell us

who made the millions from the put options before 9/11.

[napi21]

40. For a guy who believes in TOTAL SECRECY in WH ops, he sure

thinks no one else has ANYTHING they can keep confidential!

I realize the Feds have been gathering info on ANY transaction $10,000 or over for many years. I don't recall the year, but it was done to control drug money which is almost always cash.

I'd be intrested in knowing exactly whatkind of financial transactions they're snooping into this time!

[DuaneBidoux]

42. I had to declare bankruptcy last year. Does that mean I'm a terrorist?