FISA deal in Senate: Amendments: 51 votes needed to strip telecom immunity / Gov't as defendant

[seafan]

BREAKING From TPMMuckraker


By Paul Kiel - February 1, 2008, 9:40AM

So, after all that, after all the back room offers and counteroffers and fear-mongering and delaying, the Senate has finally struck a deal on the surveillance bill, and everyone has agreed to it, including Sens. Dodd and Feingold, so there should be no filibustering this time around. They'll get to voting on it all on Monday.

Most crucially, the Dodd/Feingold amendment, which would strip retroactive immunity for the telecoms from the bill, will only need 51 votes to pass. The same goes for the related Specter/Whitehouse amendment, which instead of offering immunity to the telecoms, would replace the federal government as the defendant in all the lawsuits.

There are, of course, other important amendments we'll be keeping an eye on. Sen. Feingold has a number, including one that would require a warrant when the target of the surveillance is a U.S. citizen or resident. This prevents the government from sneakily avoiding the trouble of a warrant by claiming that the focus is a foreign person; so-called "reverse targeting." Feingold's amendment would theoretically prevent that by requiring a FISA court warrant for surveillance of a foreign person where the "significant purpose" of the collection is to target a U.S. person located in the United States.

And the Republicans will have their own amendments which would loosen the bill's scope. Like one from Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) that "would change definitions in the law to allow surveillance without a warrant in cases that involve the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," as CQ's Tim Starks describes it. There's more detail on the vote thresholds required on the various amendments here.

So tune back in Monday to see what happens. It will be a much different kind of debate than last time around. The President, as expected, signed the bill extending the Protect America Act for 15 days, so Monday's vote will not have the same time pressures. It will be a vote on retroactive immunity without the administration's squeeze play. We'll see what happens.

[L. Coyote]

1. "Dodd/Feingold amendment, which would strip retroactive immunity for the telecoms from the bill,

will only need 51 votes."

Once this hurdle is met, the situation is transformed. This is the crux of filibustering.

[gkhouston]

2. yeah, and which other amendments will put immunity back in

if you check the subclauses down in the mice print? :freak:

[mmonk]

3. Naming the government as defendent.

[VP505]

6. By naming the Government

as the defendant will they then be able to use "national security" and or "executive privilege" to stop or obstruct evidence gathering in the law suits or other court actions? I sure hope we can find out before this vote Monday because I have a feeling its that or some other benefit to the Admin as to why Specter and the RePukes want to name the Government as the defendant.

[catnhatnh]

4. Bullshit....

If it costs the telcos NOTHING to act illegally, then they have no reason not to-the US government as defendent means we can sue AT&T to force ourselves to pay ourselves for their illegal actions if we can prove them in a court of law....how much do you want to bet they DOUBLE their profits by forcing the government to buy documentation to the government of what they supplied to the government at a profit???

[seafan]

5. The DEFENDANTS should be the TELECOMS, not the Gov't (that's our tax money!)

By renaming the defendants *the Federal Gov't* instead of the telecoms, the telecoms will receive Bush's coveted back-door protection anyway! Somebody in this administration must be thinking he is very smart. And it is so damn typical of how they operate. Just remove the guilty telecoms from the equation. Besides, the telecoms' pockets are too deep to be liable to the little people; that is Bu$hCo's only concern.



Wonder if Peter Keisler helped broker this *deal* on FISA?? I'll bet this is why Bush put Keisler in as acting AG last fall. Keisler is a former AT&T attorney/lobbyist.

Keisler: more intrigue at justice, By emptywheel, September 18, 2007


The White House has pulled off a clever bid to sustain the administration's legally suspect terrorist policies, particularly warrantless wiretapping. But it's not so much the selection of Michael Mukasey as the nominee to be attorney general. While Mukasey has called for strong legal tools with which to pursue terrorists, he also shows a real respect for the rule of law.

The really clever move was in the administration's substitution of Peter Keisler as acting attorney general for Paul Clement, whom Bush had named last month when Alberto Gonzales first resigned. By appointing Keisler acting attorney general, Bush has given the slot of chief law enforcement officer in the land to a longtime ally of AT&T, a telecommuncations giant whose decisions about cooperating (or not) with the government could have tremendous impact on the administration's surveillance policies.

After working in the Reagan administration, Keisler represented AT&T on several key cases before returning to government in 2002. In particular, he represented the company on a case that held that, when the phone company shared its clients' private data (including their unlisted phone numbers) with its own subsidiaries, it did no harm to customers, so those customers could not sue.

Since joining the Bush administration, Keisler has continued to back legal decisions that erode the privacy of telecommunications customers - invoking state secrets in an attempt to stop lawsuits against AT&T for cooperating in the administration's wireless wiretapping program. As acting attorney general, Keisler will find it even easier to protect AT&T's cooperation with the administration, as the attorney general has the authority to authorize telecommunications companies to cooperate with the government in surveillance activities.

The Bush administration has prioritized passing legislation giving telecommunications companies immunity for past support of the administration's warrantless wiretapping. And now Bush has put a telecommunications lawyer in charge of the justice department, which may make it much easier for the administration to get the legislation it wants. Keisler will also be the person to develop the new surveillance programs legalized under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act amendment passed in August.

.....

I hope we live long enough to see justice aimed at all of these criminals.

[VP505]

7. I have a different question

see # 6 above, there is more than money at stake here.

[annabanana]

8. a- HEM. . .signing statement, anyone?

Ok..

"unless I say so"
- GWB -

[ThomWV]

9. Good, then there would finally be a reason to get them in front of his Court.