ADMINISTRATION
Politicizing Intelligence
In his confirmation hearing, Director of National Intelligence Mike
McConnell pledged to Congress: "I
will be open to your questions, ideas, and proposals. I will use my interaction
with the Committee as important input in shaping my recommendations and actions." But
recent revelations show that McConnell has quickly shunned openness --
and honesty --
with Congress in favor of his role as "the
prime Bush administration advocate" for making the Protect America Act permanent.
The Protect America Act was passed last month just prior to Congress's summer
recess, and it greatly
expanded the President's surveillance authority without court oversight.
McConnell's attempts reflect the Bush administration's general regard that
it is "one
bomb away from getting rid of that obnoxious [FISA] court." "I am not a policy
maker, and I'm
not a political figure," McConnell has countered. But as Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO)
observed, "[H]e is getting a whole lot of experience very quickly."
LYING TO CONGRESS: In testimony this
week, McConnell claimed the Protect America Act -- which expires in five months
-- helped prevent
an attempted terrorist attack in Germany. "The newly adopted law facilitated
[thwarting the attacks] during August?" asked Senate Homeland Security Committee
Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-CT). "Yes, sir, it did," replied McConnell. But a government
official "said those intercepts were recovered
last year under the old law" and that McConnell may have "misspoken." House
Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) wrote to McConnell urging him to back
up his claims, and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre
Reyes (D-TX) said he had made a false claim to Congress. McConnell
himself conceded last night, "[I]nformation contributing to the recent arrests
was not collected under authorities provided by the Protect America Act." Rep.
Jane Harman (D-CA) explained that the German plotters "were
under surveillance for 10 months."
'SELECTIVE DISCLOSURE' OF SECRETS: When
Congress requests information on the administration's spy program, the administration
often claims such information is "classified
and sensitive, and therefore cannot be discussed," noted Conyers. For instance,
two weeks ago, the Justice Department "filed a brief opposing
the public release of secret legal opinions about the [wiretapping] program," claiming
that it would "cause serious damage to the national security of the United States." But
in an interview with the El
Paso Times last month, McConnell "raised
eyebrows" by "pulling the curtain back" and revealing "previously
classified details of government surveillance." He exposed that it allegedly
takes 200 hours to process a FISA-warrant request and confirmed, for
the first time, private sector involvement -- revealing more "than
did the entire Congressional debate." Noting this irony, Conyers wrote
to McConnell urging him to explain why he divulged those secrets to the media
while previously claiming "in litigation that confirmation of such involvement cannot
be permitted under the state secrets doctrine?" Conyers also observed
that McConnell's public claims about the German terror attacks were another case
of "selective disclosure of classified
information."
'A CLIMATE OF FEAR': In the effort to drum up support for Bush's expanded
spy authority, McConnell has stepped up his fearmongering. Alleging a "period
of heightened threat" to the U.S. homeland, McConnell asked Congress just
before August recess to "act immediately" to make changes in current law because
of "burdensome court orders." Columnist E.J. Dionne said the rushed FISA debate
was immersed in a "climate
of fear and intimidation." In his interview with the El Paso Times, McConnell
warned that "Americans
are going to die" if public debate about wiretapping continued (while divulging
the secrets anyway). Similarly, McConnell told the Senate Homeland Security
Committee last week that "50 percent of our ability to track, understand and know
about these terrorists" would be lost without FISA expansion. In his statement
yesterday, McConnell did
not apologize but rather used it as another opportunity to call for Congress
to authorize expansion of the administration's spying authority.
THE NEXT STEPS: Last month, Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) expressed his "disappoint[ment]" with the rushed process
that led to the new law expanding Bush's powers and urged Senate Select Committee
on Intelligence Chairman John Rockefeller (D-WV) and Senate Judiciary Chairman
Pat Leahy (D-VT) to "conduct
vigorous and comprehensive oversight of [its] implementation" until the law
sunsets in five months. Reid said that he supports Congress working towards
a "longer-term statutory change that better serves American national security
interests and comports
with the Constitution and proper judicial and congressional oversight." Next
Tuesday, McConnell will testify
before the House Judiciary Committee "to discuss changes to FISA."
IRAQ -- TWO OF SEVEN SOLDIERS WHO WROTE NEW
YORK TIMES OP-ED DIE IN IRAQ: Two of the seven active duty soldiers
in the 82nd Airborne who wrote an Aug. 19 op-ed in the New York Times died
in an accident in Iraq on Monday. Sgt. Omar Mora and Sgt. Yance Gray
were killed when their vehicle overturned in western Baghdad. News of their
deaths reached Washington as Gen. David Petraeus wrapped up his testimony
to Congress about the Bush administration's strategy in Iraq. The soldiers'
op-ed challenged overly simplistic press accounts of "progress" in Iraq,
and reminded readers that the war had "robbed
[Iraqis] of their self-respect" as the Americans had become "an
army of occupation." The soldiers' courage to speak out about their experiences
in Iraq helped change
the debate in Washington. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) read from soldiers'
op-ed during Tuesday's hearing, and Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) referred to the
column to challenge Petraeus's rosy assessments of the progress in Iraq: "They
laid out a pretty different scenario, General, Ambassador, from what
you're laying out today." Mora's stepfather said that his son believed
the "situation
in Iraq was desperate" and was sad that children in Iraq were "having
to live" with the war going on. Mora and Gray each
leave behind a wife and young daughter.
HUMAN RIGHTS -- SENATE INTELLIGENCE
PANEL TELLS HAYDEN TO WITHDRAW TORTURE-APPROVING NOMINEE: "Members of
the Senate intelligence committee have requested
the withdrawal of the Bush administration's choice for CIA general counsel," John
Rizzo, the Washington Post reports today. Rizzo's nomination has been stalled since
his June confirmation hearing, when he refused
to disavow his approval of a
2002 memo that stretched the definition of torture by arguing that physical
pain must be "equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical
injury, such as organ
failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death" in order to be considered
torture. Unsatisfied with Rizzo's testimony, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) placed
a hold on his nomination. Pressure against Rizzo increased on Monday when
a coalition of human rights and advocacy groups sent a letter to
the committee, urging
the panel to reject Rizzo's nomination. "Two U.S. officials familiar with
the committee's decision said the
request for Rizzo's withdrawal has been conveyed to Gen. Michael Hayden,
the CIA's director." Though "CIA officials declined comment on whether a formal
request had been received," a spokesman for the agency "said Hayden
continues to support Rizzo's nomination."
ETHICS -- LAW SCHOOL DEAN FIRED FOR
LIBERAL VIEWS: On Sept. 4, the new law
school at the University of California at Irvine hired Erwin
Chemerinsky, a well-known constitutional scholar, as the school's inaugural
dean. Less than a week later, Michael V. Drake, Irvine's chancellor, fired
him, "saying that he had not been aware of how Chemerinsky's political views
would make him a
target for criticism from conservatives." The law school, which recently
sold the rights to its name to Donald Bren, billionaire
real estate broker and long time Republican donor, for $20 million,
will restart its search for a new dean this week. Chemerinsky expressed
regret about the situation: "Obviously I'm sad because it's something I was
excit[ed] about. I'm angry because I don't believe anyone liberal or conservative
should be denied a position like this because of political views." Last year,
Chemerinsky was named one of the "top
20 legal thinkers in America," and his hiring was initially considered a
major accomplishment for the fledgling law school.
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At a White House meeting this week, President Bush told
Democratic leaders said he planned to "start
doing some redeployment." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) immediately
interjected: "No you're not, Mr. President. ... You're just going back
to the presurge level."
Citing remarks about troop withdrawals by Gen. David Petraeus, "Democrats
began a fresh campaign Wednesday to woo
centrist Republicans on Iraq." "Petraeus assured me that he favors continuing
reductions beyond the pre-surge levels," Senate Armed Services Chairman
Carl Levin (D-MI) said.
Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) blasted Director of National Intelligence
Mike McConnell yesterday for taking political orders from the White
House. Harman ended her comments by saying, "Jane
to Mike: please stop. You're undermining the authority of your office."
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is poised to reexamine "the
Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal in coming weeks." Chairman Henry
Waxman (D-CA) "issued letters to a range of Abramoff associates seeking
information about his contacts with the White House."
78 years: The life expectancy for Americans, according to
new government figures from 2005. While the span is the longest in U.S. history,
it is still "lower than the life span in more
than three dozen other countries."
16,306: Number of species "near extinction" according to
the World Conservation Union, up from 16,118 last year. Experts attributed
the jump in endangered species to habitat loss, climate
change, and infectious diseases.
At a Senate hearing yesterday,
lawmakers investigated the influx of toys from China with lead paint
and other defects. The Washington Post writes that instead of showing
contrition, Nancy Nord -- the chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission
-- "treated
lawmakers as if they were impertinent children."
"A carefully constructed compromise on a draft law governing Iraq's
rich oil fields, agreed to in February after months of arduous talks
among Iraqi political groups, appears
to have collapsed. The apparent breakdown comes just as Congress and
the White House are struggling to find evidence that there is progress toward
reconciliation and a functioning government."
"A bomb ripped through a crowd of civilians at a public square
in eastern Baghdad on Thursday," shattering
the calm on the first day of Ramadan -- the Muslim month of fasting --
and killing at least four people, Iraqi officials said.
And finally: On Monday, House members held candles to commemorate the 9/11
anniversary. All was "well and good" until House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's
(D-CA) candle-card "caught on fire in the middle of her remarks. Ever
the cool customer, the speaker threw it to the ground and stomped it out with
her foot, never once breaking stride in her speech." Rep. Steve Cohen's (D-TN)
candle-card also caught on fire. See pictures HERE.
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Yesterday, a
federal judge rejected the U.S. auto industry's attempt to prevent California
and 14 other states from setting standards on emissions linked to global warming.
ILLINOIS:
Dozens of top state officials and appointees have failed to live up to standards
set by a major ethics law.
FLORIDA:
Army Corps of Engineers builds "unsafe" dike in Everglades that may threaten
the environment and surrounding populations.
DISTRICT
OF COLUMBIA: The Senate will decide Tuesday whether to take up the D.C. voting
rights bill.
THINK PROGRESS:
Demand an Attorney General who can say NO to President Bush.
CREW BLOG: Why are
No Child Left Behind funds being spent on Neil Bush's company?
THE
HORSE'S MOUTH: On CNN, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) claims troop
deaths in Iraq are "a small price" to pay.
EDITOR & PUBLISHER:
Fathers of soldiers killed in Iraq hail their sons for speaking out in critical
New York Times op-ed.
"No, benchmarks were something that Congress wanted to use as a metric."
-- White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, 9/12/07
VERSUS
"It was the White House and the Iraqi government, not Congress, that first proposed
the benchmarks for Iraq that are now producing failing grades, a provenance that
raises questions about why the administration is declaring now that the government's
performance is not the best measure of change."
-- New York Times, 9/5/07
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