--3 Federal Judges Conclude: Bush-Cheney-NSA Director-Bush Officials--Broke Law--Committed Felonies.

[kpete]

(NOT april fool)



Thursday, Apr 1, 2010 05:02 EDT
The criminal NSA eavesdropping program
By Glenn Greenwald

While torture and aggressive war may have been the most serious crimes which the Bush administration committed, its warrantless eavesdropping on American citizens was its clearest and most undeniable lawbreaking. Federal District Judge Vaughn Walker yesterday became the third federal judge -- out of three who have considered the question -- to find that Bush's warrantless eavesdropping program was illegal (the other two are District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor and 6th Circuit Appellate Judge Ronald Gilman who, on appeal from Judge Taylor's decision, in dissent reached the merits of that question and adopted Taylor's conclusion that the NSA program was illegal).

That means that all 3 federal judges to consider the question have concluded that Bush's NSA program violated the criminal law (FISA). That law provides that anyone who violates it has committed a felony and shall be subject to 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each offense. The law really does say that. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode50/usc_sec_50_00001809----000-.html Just click on that link and you'll see. It's been obvious for more than four years that Bush, Cheney, NSA Director (and former CIA Director) Michael Hayden and many other Bush officials broke the law -- committed felonies -- in spying on Americans without warrants. Yet another federal judge has now found their conduct illegal. If we were a country that actually lived under The Rule of Law, this would be a huge story, one that would produce the same consequences for the lawbreakers as a bank robbery, embezzlement or major drug dealing. But since we're not such a country, it isn't and it doesn't.

much more:
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/index.html?story=/opinion/greenwald/2010/04/01/nsa

[fascisthunter]

1. Now Let's See Some Action

though, I guess that if this goes to the Supremely Fascist Court, it will get shot down.

[rocktivity]

2. In the meantime, I guess poor Obama has no choice but to follow through

And after he had his AG file that friend of court brief and all...

:evilgrin:
rocktivity

[rhett o rick]

25. Yeah, "follow thru", April Fools. nm

[Bluebear]

32. lol

[Maraya1969]

38. Wait Obama did not stop the Patriot Act but this is diferent? What it in

in the Patriot act that is so odious then?

[Enthusiast]

55. Ed Zackery.

What a court!

[City Lights]

3. Time to draw this card from the pile:

[conscious evolution]

4. Wake me up when there are indictments.

Till then i'm going back to sleep.

[Mira]

46. Is there a little room for me under that rock?

My frustration is boundless.
What is it going to take?

[Enthusiast]

56. Ain't that the fuckin' truth. nt

[Echo In Light]

5. And congress voted for immunity for telecoms

[azul]

37. Code Pink these partners in crime with handcuffs too?

Did they not try to authorize kidnapping and torture and sneak-attack invasions (attack without declaring war) too?

Must law-abiding and patriotic citizens be called upon to save the rule of law if the justice dept is too corrupted to do its job? And Code Pink is about it in the Land of the Brave?

Does the general public even know or care anymore? We got the kind of government that we deserve? Representation by criminals.

[Solly Mack]

6. I didn't think Presidents could break the law in America

since when they do it it's legal....

I could be wrong but surely there would be indictments if I was wrong...surely.

Oh well...

[Echo In Light]

8. You've mistaken ours for some other parallel-dimension-country where laws are applicable to all

:)

[Solly Mack]

10. I hate it when that happens!

[arcadian]

7. Arrest those fucker right goddamn fucking now

[gratuitous]

9. There ya go again, lookin' backwards to the past, you betcha

Let's focus on the very important stuff that's happening right now: Easter recess for Congress and Tea Bagger rallies which aren't racist and don't use or condone violent language or imagery, so stop saying that.

Jeez, trying to make a federal case out of a political disagreement. The truth of the matter is that Republicans are mad, too. So let's just say that there were mistakes made and agree to disagree, and nobody goes to jail. Unless they're some kind of dirty fucking hippie or a terrorist (as if there's a difference).

[tom_paine]

12. Well said and sadly true

[hootinholler]

11. We've known these offenses are indictable for a long time

But we seem to be looking forward.

-Hoot

[glinda]

13. I am hoping something will happen for the sake of the Country.

[Vinnie From Indy]

14. I hope all DU'ers kick this!

It is one of the clearest examples of how are country is no longer based on the rule of law. Greenwald is absolutely right about how if America was a nation of laws this would be a 24/7 news story. It won't be covered by our highly corrupt media in America because most of the news corporations were in on the crimes of the BushCo coup leaders from the start.

K&R

[jtrockville]

15. and justice for all

[Vinnie From Indy]

16. The MAIN point of Greenwald's piece is aimed at OBAMA

He writes,
"Although news reports are focusing (appropriately) on the fact that Bush's NSA program was found to be illegal, the bulk of Judge Walker's opinion was actually a scathing repudiation of the Obama DOJ. In fact, the opinion spent almost no time addressing the merits of the claim that the NSA program was legal. That's because the Obama DOJ -- exactly like the Bush DOJ in the case before Judge Taylor -- refused to offer legal justifications to the court for this eavesdropping. Instead, the Obama DOJ took the imperial and hubristic position that the court had no right whatsoever to rule on the legality of the program because (a) plaintiffs could not prove they were subjected to the secret eavesdropping (and thus lacked "standing" to sue) and (b) the NSA program was such a vital "state secret" that courts were barred from adjudicating its legality.

Those were the arguments that Judge Walker scathingly rejected. All of the court's condemnations of the DOJ's pretense to imperial power were directed at the Obama DOJ's "state secrets" argument (which is exactly the same radical and lawless version, as TPM compellingly documented, used by the Bush DOJ to such controversy). From the start, the Obama DOJ has engaged in one extraordinary maneuver after the next to shield this criminal surveillance program from judicial scrutiny. Indeed, their stonewalling at one point became so extreme that the court actually threatened the Obama DOJ with sanctions. And what TPM calls the Obama DOJ's "Bush-mimicking state secrets defense" has been used by them in one case after the next to conceal and shield from judicial review a wide range of Bush crimes -- including torture, renditions and surveillance. As the Electronic Frontiers Foundation put it: "In Warrantless Wiretapping Case, Obama DOJ's New Arguments Are Worse Than Bush's."


And, he is absolutely right! We are, in fact, living through the 3rd term of GW Bush!

[Enthusiast]

57. Every action by Obama, all the evidence

indicates this is true. Can we believe our own eyes? It is right before us.

"We are, in fact, living through the 3rd term of GW Bush!"

And the state of our elections and politics virtually guarantees replacing the current president and legislature will result in more of the same if not even worse.

So, I ask you, what is to be done?

[Scurrilous]

17. K & R

:thumbsup:

[Supersedeas]

18. Just speculation: but, I'll bet that the Corp TV Media will barely even mention this

[deutsey]

51. I saw nothing about it on the news today...however, my local TV news

had a bit about a guy who's flying a Soviet flag in his yard to protest the "leftward tilt" of the country.

Seriously.

:evilfrown:

[Enthusiast]

58. Seriously?

This is how thoroughly propagandized we have become.

I would guess that 70+% of the viewing audience was nodding their heads when they were told about the "leftward tilt".

[deutsey]

64. Oh, you know it.

Based on the area where I live (mostly red with some patches of purple, but no blue), I'm willing to bet the TV station put it on to pander to the rightwingnuts around here.

[deutsey]

76. And, on top of it all, it wasn't even local news

It's in Williamsburg, VA:

http://www.wtkr.com/news/wtkr-soviet-flag-wb,0,4708114.story

What a maroon, as Bugs Bunny would say.

[amborin]

19. K&R

why aren't they being prosecuted?

[Mike K]

33. The kingmakers who enabled an alcoholic nitwit -

- like George W. Bush to become President, twice, got what they paid for. But they didn't expect him to present himself as such an irrepressibly arrogant and plainly incompetent boor. The fact is Bush went overboard and was calling too much attention to the real direction the U.S. was being led in. It became necessary to divert attention from the incremental coup which was being covertly directed by Dick Cheney and the best way to do that is to reverse the impression Bush had imparted to the presidency.

What they needed was a totally different personality in the White House, someone who was marketable but was the apparent opposite of the smirking egotist who had successfully delivered the Nation to a ruling elite, transferred the nation's wealth to that ruling elite and brought the middle class to its knees. And not one of the candidates on either side of the political aisle appeared more opposite of George W. Bush than did the Black intellectual with the verbal skill of a professional actor.

Speaking for myself, I wouldn't care if Obama managed to promote single-payer health-care reform, end the Middle East occupations, end unemployment and facilitate the legalization of marijuana, I would regard him as a bad President. Because his failure to promote the prosecution of the Bush crime family absolutely ensures that it is a matter of time until an even worse criminal regime finds it way into power, which will mean the end of everything good about America -- including anything good he managed to achieve.

To answer your question; in my opinion there is only one possible reason why Obama has so diligently opposed any effort to prosecute BushCo and that reason is fealty to the power structure that placed him and George Bush in the White House.

The bottom line is Barack Obama looks different from George Bush, he talks different from Bush, he presents an entirely different persona than that of Bush and he's done a sufficient number of relatively minor good things as to successfully divert attention from the continuing rise of The New World Order.



The Bush crime family is not being prosecuted because Obama has been told by his sponsors to prevent that from happening.

[spanone]

20. k&r...

[Uncle Joe]

21. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.:thumbsup:

[classysassy]

22. The justice department

has authority to indict the law breakers.

[noise]

23. I would guess the lack of public outrage

is attributable in part to the abstract nature of such accounts. In his latest book The Spy Factory, author James Bamford writes about some of the abuses:

AMY GOODMAN: It’s good to have you with us. Well, let’s talk about Adrienne Kinne’s allegations, spying on Americans and international aid workers in Iraq. What’s wrong with this?

JAMES BAMFORD: Well, there’s a lot of things wrong with it. First of all, they’re wasting their time, when they should be spying on or trying to intercept communications to and from terrorists. That was one of the complaints that Adrienne had and also Murfee Faulk had, that they didn’t join the military to listen to Americans doing pillow talk, because a lot of this was intimate conversations between Americans and their spouses back in the United States. They’ve been separated a long time, and you can imagine what a lot of those conversations dealt with. They were very personal matters dealing with finance, affection, and so forth. So they felt that they were morally wrong by eavesdropping on these people and then just wasting government money and wasting their time by listening to things that had nothing to do with the war on terrorism.

James Bamford on Democracy Now

[KansDem]

24. I wish...I wish...I wish...

[donheld]

26. k & R

[slipslidingaway]

27. knr nt

[Octafish]

28. The ONE guy who didn't go along got railroaded.

Joseph Nacchio of Qwest Communications refused to go along -- six months BEFORE Sept. 11, 2001. So, he got the treatment.

Former CEO Says U.S. Punished Phone Firm

[Canuckistanian]

30. I always wondered what happened to him

It really was the Mafia, wasn't it? "Play along, or your family goes to a funeral"

I see the same tactics with Eliot Spitzer.

[annabanana]

41. I remember that well.. . n/t

[HCE SuiGeneris]

70. The corruption is deep, indeed.

Thanks for the link, sir.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

29. I want some fucking justice. It does no good to proclaim a crime actually was committed

without seeking the mandated recourse for the commission of the crime.

[Lugnut]

31. +100 n/t

[Mike K]

35. The absolute evil in Obama's efforts to impede -

prosecution of the criminals who did more damage to this Nation than did the collective mobsters dating back to Al Capone is manifest in the fact that an ordinary person caught with a pound of marijuana would be sent to prison for up to ten years. Yet the Bush crime family has raised a middle finger and walked away smiling.

Nothing good that Obama can do will compensate for that. Because his disposition in this matter is a clear statement that punishment is for commoners, not the political elite.

[Greyhound]

36. "punishment is for commoners, not the political elite.", sums it up.

:grr:
:kick: & R

[seaglass]

63. You speak true. what Obama does in relation to the abuse of

our laws by the Bush admin over the last 8 years is the ONLY factor my next vote hinges on. If he continues on his current path, he does not get my vote.

[progressoid]

53. Oh there well be some justice all right. I'm sure somebody will be getting a sternly written letter,

maybe even a slap on the wrist!

[RufusTFirefly]

34. Old news. Time to move on. Chess game. Pony.

:sarcasm:

[Wizard777]

39. But how do you get 1 USAG to do something about it?

[chill_wind]

52. You recess in some fire power after a whole year, or at least fill some gaping HOLES

like the Assistant AG?

Oh wait-- there are zero DOJ appointees on that list, much less OLC or OLP biggies.

No Recess Appointments For DOJ Nominees

By Andrew Ramonas | February 12, 2010 2:28 pm

President Obama signaled last night that he does not intend to make recess appointments next week for three top Justice Department nominees who have languished in the Senate since last year.

Dawn Johnsen (Indiana University)

In a statement following the confirmation of 27 nominees last night, the president indicated that he didn’t plan to make recess appointments while Congress is gone for the President’s Day recess next week for Dawn Johnsen for the Office of Legal Counsel, Mary L. Smith for the Tax Division and Christopher Schroeder for the Office of Legal Policy. But he didn’t rule out bypassing Senate confirmation in the future for some nominees.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8042371&mesg_id=8042468

http://www.mainjustice.com/2010/02/12/no-recess-appointments-for-top-doj-nominees-next-week/


Here's what WH spokesperson told Marcy Wheeler, when asked:

Congratulations to Craig Becker, who has finally gotten his recess appointment to serve on the National Labor Relations Board. As well as 14 other people who were similarly recess appointed today.

Not on that list?

Dawn Johnsen.
(...)

Update: I asked the White House for comment on why Johnsen wasn’t included. This is the comment I got back, from Spokesperson Jen Psaki:

Of the 77 people on the calendar, we are only recess appointing 15 and there are a number of qualified individuals the President has nominated that do not fall in this group. If the Republicans do not end their campaign of obstruction, the President reserves the option of exerting his authority to recess appoint qualified individuals in the future, but our hope is that we can move beyond the partisan politics that have held up the process for the last fifteen months for the good of the American people.

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/03/27/obama-discovers-recess-appointments-but-not-for-dawn-johnsen/



Please. Republicans and Conservadems are never, ever going to let her get past. If he wants her, this is the only way he will get her. I think he must know that by now.

Memorial Day Recess could present another opportunity? Will what happens--or doesn't- then. tell us anything?

Meanwhile, til some theoretic day, Holder goes on without her and many more.

[olegramps]

73. It wouldn't be in keeping with his bipartisanship philosophy. When is he going to wake up!

[chill_wind]

74. I think he has. It's the rest of us still somehow hopeful who haven't, perhaps.

He made his U-turn last May re:aggressive cleanup, and I think the Greg Craig story tells much of that and how that was steered.

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1940537,00.html

I think a lot of us just don't really want to absorb the implications and the reality of it really changing (in his first term, anyway) myself included. A recessed-in Dawn Johnsen or someone of her same stripe and inclinations would tell us a lot to the contrary. That would be good-- very good.

[PufPuf23]

77. Thanks for the Time article on Greg Craig

I am best to be speechless.

[chill_wind]

78. It tells much. And major msm has been very quietly content

with that apparent settled outcome. Pretty much the silent coup.

[annabanana]

40. If they ever decide to prosecute, it will not be a slow affair.

The evidence is all exposed, sworn, parsed and tied up in ribbons waiting for them.

[pjt7]

42. Why has this taken so long?

Bush's Attorney General & FBI Director tried to resign because of the illegality of the program.

Most Americans aren't even aware of that fact.

[Echo In Light]

44. So by the time it receives any marginal M$M exposure the brainwashed collective is long past it

... as you say, though, it's not like many were even wary prior to

[Enthusiast]

65. Yeah, as far right as he is,

he still didn't want to be associated with such an obvious violation of the constitution.

[Soylent Brice]

43. so, can we prosecute now? n/t

[BailoutBill]

45. Arrest them already

Their rap sheet is a mile long.

[Myrina]

47. So, any existing wiretapping needs to stop, right, Prez O?

Right? RIGHT?? :mad:

[Pavulon]

48. Repeat after me. "the nsa will never be party to discovery in open court"

this will end up at the supreme court where it will be determined during a war the NSA (a military operation) can take extraordinary effort. Would be better if the whole thing dropped now.

[chill_wind]

69. Which is why it probably won't even be appealed by the Obama DOJ.

at least according to this reasoning:

more at the link. http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/03/31/why-doj-is-likely-to-accept-vaughn-walkers-ruling/

But here's the main excerpt:

I’m betting that the government will be willing to accept the ruling that it illegally wiretapped al-Haramain in exchange for the ability to leave details of how and what it did secret, leaving the claim of State Secrets largely intact.

There is little risk that other people will sue on the same terms al-Haramain did, because few, if any, other people are going to be able to make the specific prima facie case that they were wiretapped that al-Haramain did. Few people are going to be able to point to public FBI statements and court documents to prove their case, as al-Haramain was able to. And anyone who does sue will end up before Walker, who has dismissed all other suits precisely because they lacked the specific proof that they were wiretapped that al-Haramain had. Plus, with the extent to which Congress has already gutted FISA, there’s little risk someone could sue going forward.

Since Walker dismissed the suit against Mueller, the government doesn’t have any individuals on the hook still for this illegal activity.

And, finally, by accepting this ruling–which argues that only if Congress has provided very specific guidance about court review, will a law automatically trump State Secrets–the government preserves the status quo on State Secrets largely intact (unless and until the full 9th Circuit panel upholds the Jeppesen decision, but I have increasing doubts they will).

So you decide. If you’re President Obama and Attorney General Holder, both of whom have already said that the illegal wiretap program was illegal, which are you going to choose? Accepting a ruling that says it was illegal, in exchange for keeping the details of that illegality secret? Or the invitation to take your chances with an appeal?

IOW, this one is out of here, now, and the Obama admin again moves forward.

[RedCloud]

49. Please forgive them Obama and do NOT prosecute them! I beg you.

Since praying the other way gives no results, I thought I would see if the POTUS would stop pissing us off by using reverse psychology on our oiling drilling friend in the WH.

[thotzRthingz]

68. that might work (Obama seems to IGNORE the will of the American people--to wit HCR w/o a PO)

[deutsey]

50. They're guilty of a helluva lot more than that

But it's good to hear some official recognition of what these criminals got away with.

[Toasterlad]

54. And This Will Lead To Exactly Nothing.

[Echo In Light]

60. Well, this *is* America

[Enthusiast]

66. A banana republic. nt

[Norrin Radd]

59. kr

[wildbilln864]

61. so arrest em already!

not going to happen will it? I won't even be surprised if they get pardons. :banghead:

[OnyxCollie]

62. K&R. nt

[thotzRthingz]

67. "Hang 'em, hang 'em high!" K&R (n/t)

[SpiralHawk]

71. "It's all Bill Clinton's fault. Smirk." - xCommander AWOL (R)

[SpiralHawk]

72. "Screw laws & morality. We're republicons." - xVP Dickie 'Five-Military-Deferments' Cheney

"We republicons don't do law, or morality, or integrity, or honor. So you Americans can just STFU and sit down. Sneer."

- xVP Dickie 'Five-Military-Deferments' Cheney (R)

[Raster]

75. Too late to recommend, but I can KICK the shit out of this!!!

Bush*, Cheney* and their various minions are criminals in oh-so-many ways! The high crimes and misdemeanors of this gang of crooks should be thoroughly investigated--openly and vigorously and punishment should be swift and severe. No potential crime or misdeed should go univestigated and no confirmed crime should go unpunished TO THE FULL LETTER OF THE LAW!