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April 1, 2008
Curiosity Wouldn't Be Such a Bad Trait for a Legislator
“You rise to become the top Democrat on the House Intelligence committee. When you get this position you become part of the elite ‘Gang of Eight,’ and as part of your intel briefings, you are told that under orders from the president, the National Security Agency set up ‘unique access points inside the U.S. telecommunications infrastructure.’ You are assured that this is legal. You are a trained lawyer.
“What do you do?
“Well, if you are one particular Congresswoman, you don’t think that’s its highly suspicious that the NSA is operating inside the United States. You don’t find a way to research the legality of the program, by getting hypothetical answers from constitutional and intelligence experts. You don’t read the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to see if the program sounds legal.
“Instead, you wait until 2004 when a reporter comes sniffing around and then you warn him not run a story.”
(Link)
Posted by mhall at 4:45 PM | Add Comment
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