Update on "Secret" Patriot Act: 2 senators win promise of a Patriot Act hearing

[Poll_Blind]

From CTPost:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two Democratic senators won the promise Thursday of a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing into what they say is a secret and expansive Justice Department interpretation of the information collection the Patriot Act allows.

The criticism by Intelligence Committee members Ron Wyden of Oregon and Mark Udall of Colorado came as Congress moved to extend the government's Patriot Act powers to search records and conduct roving wiretaps.

Wyden said there is a growing gap between what the law says and what the senators call a classified interpretation of the law by the Justice Department. Udall said his constituents "would be alarmed if they knew" how the Patriot Act was being carried out.

--snip--

The wording of the amendment seemed to suggest that Wyden and Udall have been concerned about the issue since Feb. 2, when the intelligence committees on the Hill received a secret report from the attorney general and the director of national intelligence. The amendment says that the attorney general must publish in the Federal Register the legal basis for the intelligence collection activities described in the Feb. 2 report.

Now I know why Wyden voted for extending it- he accepted a bribe for a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing which he wagered could throw more light on the festering fascist fuckery which the President and the Congress seem to be so enamored of for the last 10 years...

Much more at the link! Well worth your time to read.

PB

[villager]

1. so, will the hearing actually yield anything -- anything to be done -- or was Wyden bought off ...

...too cheaply?

I suspect the latter, since the MIC has zero intention of "reforming," but maybe Wyden plans to go out in a blaze of glory...

[Poll_Blind]

2. It's really tough to say. I'm inclined to believe that the hearing won't even happen or....

...that it will be a muted travesty. I don't so much hope as just say "Well, we'll see when we see."

PB

[villager]

3. That's it. He may get some vague three-hour hearing that makes no news cycles whatever

...and feel good he "stood up" to the Enabling Act renewal, I guess...