Specter finds his spine (today): No Retroactive Immunity for Telecoms

[babylonsister]

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004472.php

Specter: No Retroactive Immunity for Telecoms
By Paul Kiel - October 16, 2007, 5:50PM

As the ACLU worries that Senate Democrats in the intelligence committee will give retroactive immunity to telephone companies for collaborating with the administration's warrantless surveillance program, the two senior members of the judiciary committee say they won't entertain that without knowing what the telecoms did.

Here's Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and ranking member Arlen Specter (R-PA) speaking earlier today on CNN - at link~

Specter:

I certainly would not give them immunity retroactively on programs that we don’t know what they are…. I think it’s unreasonable to ask us to give them immunity for things we don’t know what they did. If there was a need for it at the time, and if the telephone companies were good citizens and if they supplied information which was important, then I’d be prepared to look at it. But I’m not going to buy a pig in a poke, and commit to retroactive immunity when I don’t know what went on. They’ve kept that from us. That’s a big problem, Wolf.

[thereismore]

1. tomorrow is another day. nt

[spotbird]

2. Is that no "confirmation without

subpoenaed documents" Leahey?

It is a criminal waste of oxygen for these people to make empty promises at this point. What about those blanket warrants anyway?

[Yael]

3. I don't trust Specter. He says one thing and does the opposite more often than I can count

[TheDebbieDee]

4. I agree - Specter has been playing this

mindfuck games with Dems for several years now.

Well, FUCK YOU, Arlen Specter!

[tkmorris]

5. That sounds like a set-up of sorts

He's leaving the door wide open to learn what they did, than say that it was necessary for them to do so and grant them immunity from prosecution. I expect the next step is for the White House to offer to brief certain key members of Congress on what the Telecoms did, only behind closed doors and with the understanding that the information is classified. This then clears the way for the immunity to be inserted into whatever bill they can find to hang it on.

Specter is an old hand at this. Appear to oppose the most egregious excesses of his own party and declare that he will get to the bottom of it, thus taking the teeth out of any Dem attempts to investigate. Then he will declare some sort of "victory" and the show goes on at it always did.

Do NOT trust this.

[burythehatchet]

6. Single bullet Specter has been a loyal servant for decades.

Please don't be taken in by him.

[librechik]

7. were the cameras on?

He's a different kind of invertebrate when the camera is on. I'm suree he'll find a very good reason to throw a wrench in the machinery at the last minute, when no one is looking.

[Marr]

8. Specter's words are worthless.

He can be counted on to stand up for the worst among us whenever they need him.