From Sen. Feingold; spying hearings start next week

[babylonsister]

Dear xxxxx

When Attorney General Alberto Gonzales appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee at his confirmation hearing a year ago, I asked him directly about the legality of President Bush authorizing warrantless wiretapping on United States citizens. Gonzales dismissed my question as a "hypothetical situation." We now know that not only was such a program already in existence, but as a key advisor to the President, Gonzales had full knowledge of that domestic spying program.

The President has almost certainly broken the law, and next week I will be taking part in congressional hearings to determine the extent and legality of the Bush Administration's domestic spying program. I have grave concerns about this program's infringement on the rights and freedoms of law-abiding American citizens. I will have many questions about how President Bush justifies the legality of spying on American citizens without seeking warrants from a court as required by law. I will also have particularly strong questions for Attorney General Gonzales because his answers under oath a year ago were misleading.

When I asked you to support my call for this congressional investigation, thousands of you responded to my request, and the Progressive Patriots Fund community helped demonstrate the groundswell of support for the accountability that these hearings can bring to force.

Over the next several weeks, I'll be communicating regularly with you on the important topic of domestic spying. I hope you'll support our work as you have in the past by telling your friends, signing our urgent action petitions, and contributing to the Progressive Patriots Fund so we can continue our efforts to demand accountability from the Bush Administration.

I encourage you to read this recent article in the Washington Post about my work on this issue, which can be found online at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/30/AR2006013001318_pf.html.

Together we can demand that the President be held accountable. Thank you again for your support now, and in the future.

Sincerely,



Russ Feingold
United States Senator
Honorary Chair, Progressive Patriots Fund

[William769]

1. I wish him the best of luck.

But I just don't see without MSM how anything will come of it.

[Nutmegger]

2. Good for him, I wish him the best of luck as well

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

[Warren DeMontague]

3. Go get 'em, Russ.

Hopefully he can help prevent it from being a total whitewash, although given who controls the machinery, I won't hold my breath.

[blm]

4. This would have been great to bring up during the Alito hearings.

It would have been interesting to hear Alito speak to it. Didn't we KNOW about the NSA spying before the hearings?

It also would have been great reason to filibuster.

[babylonsister]

5. Ammunition; why didn't they use it? nt

[blm]

6. The whole idea of keeping their powder dry, I guess.

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