Senate Intelligence Committee Likely to Open Investigation Into NSA...

[sabra]

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/02-12-2006/0004279916&EDATE=

NEWSWEEK: Senate Intelligence Committee Likely to Open Investigation Into NSA Wiretapping; Key Republicans Expected to Join Call for More Info From White House, Intel Agencies


NEW YORK, Feb. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Last week was particularly rough for
President Bush's team on Capitol Hill as former FEMA director Michael Brown
used a congressional hearing to lay the blame for the botched handling of
Hurricane Katrina on the White House and the Homeland Security Department.
This coming week is not going to be any better, report Investigative
Correspondent Michael Isikoff, Investigative Correspondent Mark Hosenball and
Assistant Managing Editor Evan Thomas. The Senate intelligence committee is
likely to vote to open an investigation into the NSA's wiretapping program,
according to senior congressional aides. The chairman of the committee, Sen.
Pat Roberts of Kansas, will probably follow the White House line and try to
keep a lid on the hearings. But three Republicans -- Chuck Hagel of Nebraska,
Olympia Snowe of Maine, and Mike DeWine of Ohio -- are expected to join with
the Democrats on the committee to vote to demand more information about the
secret eavesdropping program from the White House and intelligence agencies,
Newsweek reports in the February 20 issue (on newsstands Monday, February 13).

...

While discussing the possibility of Senate intelligence committee hearings
on the secret wiretapping program, a senior White House official shrugged off
the push-back from Republican lawmakers. "The idea that there is growing
concern in our party is unfounded," he said. This aide, who knows the thinking
of the president and his top advisers, attributed individual motivations to
the GOP dissidents. He said that some lawmakers, like Senator DeWine, are in
close races back home and need political cover, while others, like Senator
Hagel, are well-known mavericks who often criticize the White House.

Last week, the White House agreed to brief the full House and Senate
intelligence committees on the NSA programs, but congressional leaders who had
been briefed on the program all along have complained that they were largely
kept in the dark about the real workings of the program. And while Attorney
General Alberto Gonzales told the Senate Judiciary Committee that a
"bipartisan group of leaders" was consulted in 2004 about whether a new law
was needed, Rep. Peter Hoekstra said the issue never came up when he was
briefed by Vice President Cheney after he became GOP chair of the House
Intelligence Committee in August 2004. Three Democratic leaders briefed on the
program that year -- Rep. Jane Harman, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, and former Senate
minority leader Tom Daschle -- recalled no discussion of a new law. "I'm
confident it never occurred," said Daschle.

(Complete article can be read at http://www.Newsweek.com.)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11300384/site/newsweek/

[babylonsister]

1. Yeah, baby! Bring it on! nt

[kestrel91316]

2. The Repukes will "investigate" alright, but NOTHING will come of it.

[asjr]

6. Pat Roberts will see to that!

[Supersedeas]

15. Senator Roberts to keep lid on Iraq IntelPhase 2 and the NSA Authorization

[EVDebs]

16. The Long March of BushCheney to 2008

The country's endurance is being tested, just as with the Constitutional crisis. This could be the Democrat's "Finest Hour", actually three years, possibly less if Dems sweep in in '06.

Dems saved Social Security; tried to save Medicare/Medicaid; tried to restore budget sanity; if given the truth, wouldn't have gone into Iraq in the first place and wouldn't have forgotten OBL.

Iraq and corruption are what define the R's !

[central scrutinizer]

3. Brushes ready?

Good, let the whitewash begin. Isn't one party rule great - one hand washes the other.

[rodeodance]

4. don't be too excited. I watched Roberts today--and see below

The chairman of the committee, Sen.
Pat Roberts of Kansas, will probably follow the White House line and try to
keep a lid on the hearings.

[rodeodance]

5. and it is the same Roberts who is stalling on Phase II.

[54anickel]

7. Why am I not surprised. I don't suppose this Roberts is also in on

the call to probe Cheney in the Plamegate leak? Do they really think they can whitewash everything? Of course, with Murika's track record the lately, they probably can.

[rodeodance]

11. I would hardly think so. te he.

[Wilms]

8. kick

[rodeodance]

9. recall that Gonzalas will give special briefing tomorrow (? in hopes of

warding of a full committee investigation). This was annouced yesterday.

[rodeodance]

10. here is the rare Saturday annoncement:

http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002406.htm

Blogged by Brad on 2/11/2006 @ 2:18pm PT...

EXCLUSIVE: DoJ Notifies House Today of Monday Briefing on NSA Wiretaps
Rare Saturday Email in Advance of Resolutions of Inquiry Mark-Up Said a Sign of GOP/White House Concern About Warrantless Eavesdropping Program...

Is the Bush Administration getting nervous about growing GOP defections concerning their warrantless NSA domestic eavesdropping program? A rare Saturday email to Congressional members announcing a last-minute scheduled briefing on...

Is the Bush Administration getting nervous about growing GOP defections concerning their warrantless NSA domestic eavesdropping program?

A rare Saturday email to Congressional members announcing a last-minute scheduled briefing on Monday by the Dept. of Justice would seem to indicate that may be the case.

The email, sent earlier today and obtained by The BRAD BLOG, notified Congressional Republicans and Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee of the newly announced briefing for Monday -- in advance of next Wednesday's mark-up of two Resolutions of Inquiry being put forward in the committee....

[rodeodance]

12. k and r.

[HereSince1628]

13. Apparently more white wash needs to be applied.

[reprobate]

14. Don't be too sure of a whitewash. Remember "The aspens have turned"?

Libby wrote to Miller in jail to let her off promise to shield him.

"The aspens have turned, and they've turned in clusters."

It's been said to mean that the convention of big republican donors that met in Aspen, Co have decided to dump Bush/Cheney. And they've turned as a group.

What we are seeing now with all the shit being dumped on the administration is the effect of that decision. The republican Conservative Caucus in the last few days have said to the effect that Bush has betrayed conservatives with his horrific deficits and growing government to the largest in history.

Add all that to the coverage in the media which we'd never have seen before all this started to hit the media recently. They are very afraid of losing both houses of congress. I believe we WILL se an impeachment, and it just may be let by republicans.

Wait for it. It's coming. You can hear it in the night, slithering up on Mad George. It's coming to get him. For many years he evaded it, but it has him backed into a corner now. Look out, George!

[stickdog]

17. The Butthead who would be King ...