For those who can't quite grasp the idea of "checks and balances" and continue to believe that briefing 2 of 16 Senators on the Intelligence Committee is comporting with the law which clearly states the Intelligence Committee must be briefed:
--But until December, when the eavesdropping was revealed, all but the Republican chairman and the senior Democrat on the Intelligence Committee were left off the manifest.--http://www.nytimes.com/...
Meaning none but two knew of the NSA eavesdropping programs existence which is in violation of the 1947 National Security Act.
And here is that law:
"SEC. 501. [50 U.S.C. 413] (a)(1) The President shall ensure that the congressional intelligence committees are kept fully and currently informed of the intelligence activities of the United States, including any significant anticipated intelligence activity as required by this title."
"(e) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as authority to withhold information from the congressional intelligence committees on the grounds that providing the information to the congressional intelligence committees would constitute the unauthorized disclosure of classified information or information relating to intelligence sources and methods."
Is advising 2 of 16 Senators comporting with the law which requires "intelligence committees are kept fully and currently informed"? Especially when those 2 could not divulge any information to the other 14?
Hardly.
More from the Times:
---That did not appear to satisfy Senator Olympia J. Snowe, Republican of Maine. Earlier in the day she had complained that the small number of lawmakers who were briefed before Wednesday were "handcuffed" because they were not permitted to share information with colleagues.
"The notification to a very limited group -- they could do nothing much with that information, essentially -- is not the kind of checks and balances that I think our founding fathers had in mind," Ms. Snowe said.---
Only yesterday did this administration comply with the law and brief the entire Intelligence Committee.
Now we still hear how Congress was right to impeach Clinton for BREAKING THE LAW of perjury in a civil suit about a blow job but apparently it's ok to break the law about briefing Congress on intelligence matters.
Go figure.
Here's what Sen. Wyden said yesterday to Gen. Hayden (again from from the Times:
--- "General," Mr. Wyden said, "if we had not read about the warrantless wiretapping program in The New York Times last December, would 14 of the 16 members of this Senate Intelligence Committee ever have heard about this program in a way consistent with national security?"
"Senator," the general replied, "I simply have no way of answering that question. I don't know."
But when the session was over, Mr. Wyden remained in a state of pique.
"The fact of the matter is that for years, a significant majority of the Senate Intelligence Committee had to get a good clipping service about programs that are all over the newspaper," he said. "My line is: What do I know? I'm only on the Intelligence Committee."---
If we had the machine the Republcans do, the entire country would be talking about this clear violation of the law. But we don't so we're not.