[Politech] Democrats scramble to say they didn't tacitly approve Bush's NSA surveillance [priv]

From: Declan McCullagh (declan@private)
Date: Wed Dec 21 2005 - 10:20:27 PST


Letter by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-WV:
http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2005/12/rock121905.pdf

Previous Politech message:
http://www.politechbot.com/2005/12/20/two-submissions-on/

Excerpt from Justin Raimondo's analysis:
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=8284
"...the complete inability and unwillingness of the Democrats to stand 
up against this systematic assault on our liberties at the most crucial 
point: that is, at the time it was initiated. This is underscored by the 
fact that Sen. Jay Rockefeller is coming out in public against the NSA 
eavesdropping only now that it is politically popular to do so. When it 
really counted, however, those few congressional Democrats who were let 
in on the secret unauthorized wiretaps, such as Rockefeller and House 
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, said nothing."

Rep. Pelosi's announcement from yesterday follows (she's referring to 
her classified letter written years ago).

-Declan


Pelosi Requests Declassification of Her Letter on NSA Activities

Washington, D.C. -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the
following statement today on her request to the Director of National
Intelligence to declassify a letter she wrote to the Bush Administration
expressing concerns about the activities of the National Security Agency.

"When I learned that the National Security Agency had been authorized to
conduct the activities that President Bush referred to in his December 17
radio address, I expressed my strong concerns in a classified letter to the
Administration and later verbally.

"Today, in an effort to shed light on my concerns, I requested that the
Director of National Intelligence quickly declassify my letter and the
Administration's response to it and make them both available to the public.

"The President must have the best possible intelligence to protect the
American people.  That intelligence, however, must be produced in a manner
consistent with our Constitution and our laws, and in a manner that reflects
our values as a nation to protect the American people and our freedoms."

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