The Political Chase

Bush Administration’s View of Congressional Oversight

George Bush and company have gotten some of their lies straight on domestic spying and are aggressively hitting the mainstream media with their talking point(s). Bush is going to play the card that he told Congress about the secret domestic spy program, and therefore it’s okay – all legal, with sufficient Congressional oversight.

This morning, the monarch said “Leaders in Congress had been briefed more than a dozen times” about the program. In an ABC news interview, Prince Cheney said, “It’s been briefed to the Congress over a dozen times…” Tonight on Hardball, Madame Secretary Condi Rice said in a dismissive tone, Congress was briefed at least twelve times. (ed. note: Hardball transcript not available at this time)

These are the facts – eight people in Congress were briefed and were not allowed to discuss the program. There are 553 535 members in Congress. Briefing eight out of 553 535 that cannot discuss it lest they violate the laws of the United States is not briefing Congress.

Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), ranking minority member of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee (SSIC), was one of the privileged eight. Rockefeller released a handwritten letter to Prince Cheney from July 17, 2003 expressing his discontent about the program. Following are Rockefeller’s statements from today’s press release that accompanied the 2003 letter to Cheney. [Emphasis added.]

“For the last few days, I have witnessed the President, the Vice President, the Secretary of State, and the Attorney General repeatedly misrepresent the facts.

“The record needs to be set clear that the Administration never afforded members briefed on the program an opportunity to either approve or disapprove the NSA program. The limited members who were told of the program were prohibited by the Administration from sharing any information about it with our colleagues, including other members of the Intelligence Committees.

“At the time, I expressed my concerns to Vice President Cheney that the limited information provided to Congress was so overly restricted that it prevented members of Congress from conducting meaningful oversight of the legal and operational aspects of the program.

“These concerns were never addressed, and I was prohibited from sharing my views with my colleagues.

“Now that this issue has been brought out into the open, I strongly urge the Senate Intelligence Committee to immediately undertake a full investigation into the legal and operational aspects of the program, including the lack of sufficient congressional oversight.”

The administration continues to hold the eight members of Congress to their confidentiality requirements (big surprise). Sen Diane Feinstein (D-CA), who is also on the SSIC, was on Hardball tonight as well. Feinstein said she has questioned Rockefeller about the matter after The New York Times released the story, but Rockefeller said he could not discuss it with her.

You decide. Is that Congressional oversight?