Professor Douglas Kmiec, a former attorney in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, stepped up to defend the Administration's behavior during the Intensive Care Showdown, describing as "histrionic" former assistant Attorney General James Comey's remarkably measured testimony about the race to the bedside, the ensuing confrontation, Ashcroft's final stand and the ensuing massive resignation threat.
I forgot, what was the real crime at the heart of Watergate? Oh, right: five guys secretly on the president's payroll wiretapping the Democratic National Convention headquarters. That's a crime.
Secretive agencies beholden to the president wiretapping Americans' overseas calls and sifting through their phone records and email without court approval, under the legal theory that 9/11 made President Bush all-but-king? That's good policy.
Marty Lederman, also a former attorney at the Office of Legal Counsel, pulls apart Kmiec's argument and suggests that the reason the White House wanted the signature so badly was to keep participating telcos from balking at helping the government's spy efforts.
It's an interesting stab, but I don't think the telcos ever got that assurance. Two reasons why: Qwest asked for such a paper and never got it. Why would the others get it? And more to the point, the Administration is pushing language that would immunize telcos from lawsuits accusing the companies of illegally helping the government. Why push that provision if the telcos already are holding get out federal court free cards?
Photo: Valerie Everett
