The Political Chase

White House seeking immunity for FISA lawbreaking

The White House and lobbyists from the major telecom companies (e.g. AT&T, Verizon, etc.) are preparing a bill for congressional approval that will provide retroactive immunity to any company or individual that directly or indirectly violated federal wiretapping laws at the direction of President Bush or officials in his administration since September 11, 2001.

Simply stated, If allowed to become law, the slate would be wiped clean for the president and anyone in his administration (past or present), such as Alberto Gonzales, and the telecom companies. They would be absolved of the tons of pending civil lawsuits filed against them and criminal charges that will likely be brought under current law.

The telecom companies knew they were breaking federal laws when they allowed the National Security Agency (NSA) and other agencies to conduct warrantless eavesdropping, as evidenced by the companies that refused to comply with the administration’s secret demands (e.g. Qwest). Furthermore, after the New York Times broke the story about the administration’s illegal wiretapping in 2005, the president admitted he knowingly and willfully broke the law, the most pertinent of which is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, commonly referred to as FISA (see related posts).

Glenn Greenwald has a must-read piece on the sordid details of George Bush’s secret initiative to get himself, his minions, and his major corporation donors out of substantial criminal and civil trouble. According to Glenn, President Bush has more than just his standard Republican Guard in Congress protecting him, Democrats are signing up to help pass the proposed legislation.

If you want to contact Members of Congress about this issue, contact information is available here.