Boy am I not telling you any news here: Senator Obama, FISA, and telecom immunity present a series of interwoven issues that aren't easily sorted out. As I wrote this one for tonight, I was confident it would be "brief."
Silly me.
Especially after John Dean came back today with a rather startling report that even the Bush Administration concurs: there is no criminal immunity for anybody in the FISA bill.
Your problem (Senator Obama) is what happens even if this plays out according to plan next week:
- You vote for the anti-immunity amendment.
- The anti-immunity amendment fails.
- You vote for the FISA legislation.
And:
- The FISA legislation passes.
Oh, and, 5) Senator: The Republicans still run against you with the 'elections-for-dummies 'message: "Obama voted uh-uh... thing terror-stop."
Senator, the Republicans are going to paint you as soft on terror no matter how you vote on FISA.
Or how you vote on the Telecom Immunity Amendment.
Or on the next farm bill.
Last week it was Grover Norquist calling you "John Kerry with a tan."
By November 1st, it'll be Dick Cheney calling you "Osama Bin Laden with a tan."
There is a certain liberation in this, especially in light of what Dean has dug up, which he will publish Wednesday in his weekly column in the commentary section of FindLaw.Com.
"During the January 24th, 2008 debate in the Senate, Senator Brownback noted, 'The immunity provisions would not apply to the Government or Government officials. Cases against the Government regarding the alleged programs would continue. And the provisions would apply only to civil and not criminal cases.'
In fact, Senator, just last week, Attorney General Mukasey and Director of National Intelligence McConnell sent a letter, for the record, to House Speaker Pelosi emphasizing that the liability protection, quote, "does not immunize any criminal conduct."
And if you ask, Senator, about the President responding to all this by belching out a series of pardons or a blanket pardon to those who broke the law on his behalf, Dean has you covered here, too.
I have two suggestions for Senator Obama on his FISA vote, predicated on his willingness to acknowledge what everybody from John Dean to Sam Brownback to Michael Mukasey to the ACLU attorneys have already concluded, that the path for criminal prosecution of the telecoms and the government officials with whom they conspired, is wide open. One of them is obvious: the moment the FISA bill is signed, announce his intention to prosecute.
His opponents are going to run against him no matter what he does. He should do something.
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