Senators Say Patriot Act Is Being Misinterpreted

[cal04]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/27/us/27patriot.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Two senators claimed on Thursday that the Justice Department had secretly interpreted the so-called Patriot Act in a twisted way, enabling domestic surveillance activities that many members of Congress do not understand.

At the same time, Congress and the White House were rushing to enact legislation to prevent a lapse in several of the federal government’s investigative powers under the Patriot Act that were set to expire at midnight. The Senate passed the bill 72 to 23 late in the afternoon, and within hours the House approved it 250 to 153. In an unusual move, a White House spokesman said that President Obama, who was in Europe, would “direct the use” of an autopen machine to sign the bill into law without delay.

During the debate, Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat and a member of the Intelligence Committee, said that the executive branch had come up with a secret legal theory about what it could collect under a provision of the Patriot Act that did not seem to dovetail with a plain reading of the text. “I want to deliver a warning this afternoon: When the American people find out how their government has secretly interpreted the Patriot Act, they will be stunned and they will be angry,” Mr. Wyden said. He invoked the public’s reaction to the illegal domestic spying that came to light in the mid-1970s, the Iran-contra affair, and the Bush administration’s program of surveillance without warrants.

Another member of the Intelligence Committee, Senator Mark Udall, Democrat of Colorado, backed Mr. Wyden’s account, saying, “Americans would be alarmed if they knew how this law is being carried out.”


Wyden, 3 other sens. win promise of a Patriot Act hearing
http://www.katu.com/news/politics/122698474.html

[mdmc]

1. Americans will never know

first they came for the radical black muslims..

[ohnoyoudidnt]

2. I assume there are agencies that will do what they want no matter what legislation we have.

Billions ans billions go into intelligence/spy agencies and what do we really know about them? I doubt the President even knows everything they are doing.

[mdmc]

3. you are correct

and welcome to du..

[saras]

4. Who are they kidding? READ the damned thing

It pretty much gives them permission to do any domestic surveillance they damn well please, and do what they like with what they find, and not be subject to oversight.

[thesquanderer]

5. This is SO important...

...I don't know why this isn't getting more play, It should certainly be on the front page of DU!

[justiceischeap]

6. It's obvious why they keep extending the Patriot Act

They are obviously doing something that, if the Act expired, would get them in some very serious hot water. I mean, we all know the Patriot Act is bad, but I think what those Congressman are saying, we don't know the depth of just how bad it is.

[rhett o rick]

10. It's call nominalization. Another giant step toward fascism. nm

[truebrit71]

7. So TELL US, stop hinting around about it...

..and TELL US!!

[TalkingDog]

9. He doesn't want to end up in Gitmo where he'll never stand trial or be eligable for release.

ya know?

[gratuitous]

8. Well, for the love of all that's holy, let's not find out

We wouldn't want Americans to be "alarmed."

The real poky horn of the dilemma is getting a court to grant jurisdiction to a complainant, who might get a judicial branch ruling that says what the executive branch is doing is illegal. Right now, the federal courts are stuck on making sure a complainant has standing to sue, that is, can demonstrate that he or she has suffered harm. But since nobody really knows how they're being harmed until they're in the dock answering an indictment, who can say? Certainly the courts seem about as curious as a pro wrestling referee about looking into the matter.

[fascisthunter]

11. not many DUers would be Surprised... in fact they knew it would be a slippery slope

remember the naysayers, who argued that people here were wearing tinfoil hats?