Apologies that I don't have much of a diary here, but I just found this on Russ Feingold's website:
Statement of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold
On the Senate Intelligence Committee’s Consideration of FISA Legislation
October 18, 2007
"As a member of the SSCI, I will strongly oppose any FISA legislation that fails to protect the rights of law-abiding Americans, overseas and here at home. When the Committee considers this legislation today, I will also fight to reject immunity for anyone alleged to have cooperated with the Administration’s illegal warrantless wiretapping program. The documents made available by the White House for the first time this week only further demonstrate that the program was illegal and that there is no basis for granting retroactive immunity to those who allegedly cooperated. The one silver lining of the flawed FISA bill passed in August was that it had a 6-month expiration date. It would be shameful to miss this opportunity to fix the law. It is time for Congress to stand up for the rights of Americans and to defend the Constitution and the rule of law."
Russ, being a member of the Senate Subcommittee on Intelligence, unlike members of Judiciary (of which he is also a member), has clearly seen the data provided by the White House that was supposed to support the rationale for immunity/amnesty. His comment is telling:
The documents made available by the White House for the first time this week only further demonstrate that the program was illegal and that there is no basis for granting retroactive immunity to those who allegedly cooperated.
Seems like Chris Dodd has at least one other fellow member of the Senate with a spine.
In other related Feingold news, on Dick Durbin's website, there is an October 16 news release reporting on a Senate floor statement by Durbin stating that Dick Durbin, Ted Kennedy and Russ Feingold have sent a letter to Bush asking him to withdraw the name of Steven Bradbury for head of OLC. Serious objections on behalf of these three senators to Bradbury's apparent acceptance of torture as a means to obtain information. They are making it pretty clear to Bush that Bradbury will not be confirmed if Bush continues to push him for the OLC. Now let's see where the three of them stand on Mukasey, who can't seem to bring himself to say that waterboarding constitutes torture.