As bad a week as it's been for John McCain, it's been a TERRIBLE week for Dianne Feinstein. She watched in the Senate Judiciary Committee as Attorney General Michael Mukasey, who she voted to confirm, put on as bad a performance as Alberto Gonzales ever did, covering for the Administration's criminal actions, from torture to politicization of the Justice Department. Then, of course, there was the FISA vote, where she bowed to President Bush and voted to participate in a coverup. Despite this public statement just two weeks before the vote:
I believe the court should not grant immunity without looking into the legality of the companies' actions. So if there is an amendment that does support this, I would intend to vote for it.
Amendment Number: S.Amdt. 5059 to H.R. 6304 (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978)
Statement of Purpose: To limit retroactive immunity for providing assistance to the United States to instances in which a Federal court determines the assistance was provided in connection with an intelligence activity that was constitutional.
Feinstein (D-CA), Nay
And of course, she voted against stripping immunity, for cloture, and for the final bill.
Then there's this water bond which is more of a true compromise for DiFi, but still includes funds for building dams, and ignores unspent water funds from a 2006 bond issue. So the idea is to borrow on top of the borrowing.
Courage Campaign is considering whether or not to push censure, but CREDO Action isn't waiting to voice their displeasure. From an email:
On July 9th, sixty-nine senators voted to gut the Bill of Rights. They voted to hand President Bush the power to spy on Americans without warrants, and to grant retroactive immunity to the telecoms who allegedly helped him break the law in the past.
No wonder the Associated Press headline following the bill's passage read, "Senate bows to Bush."
So why does a president with the lowest approval ratings since the advent of polling have the power to eviscerate the Constitution?
Because Sen. Feinstein gave it to him.
We can't undo what our senators have done. But we can tell them that we can't believe they'd rather protect President Bush and his law-breaking cronies than the civil liberties of all Americans.
Click here to tell Sen. Feinstein that you are watching, that you are disappointed, and that you won't sit idly by while our Congress destroys our Constitution.
After you sign the petition, please be sure to tell a few friends.
It's really the establishment mindset, afraid of being labeled weak and then bowing to the opposition party's demands, and not recognizing the irony, that must be stopped. And there's no greater symbol of that mindset than DiFi.
UPDATE: (Bob) With rumors swirling that a Federal Grand Jury is poised to indict Don Perata, this has also the week that Perata has been telling anyone who will listening that the FBI investigation is a political witch hunt. Which, if true, means DiFi's infamous statement that he, "is not Alberto Gonzalez" in announcing her support for Mukasey's confirmation looks all the more ridiculous. Perata defenders like Roger Salazar and Jason Kinney and Bob Mulholland can use the above link to cast their votes to hold Feinstein accountable. Interestingly, Mukasey's confirmation blunder was cited specifically in the previous censure push when Art Torres put his credibility on the line defending her. And this week DiFi undermined that credibility with retroactive immunity caving at the same time CDP credibility was threatened with the Perata handout which rationalizers say was necessary because of Mukasey. Accountability matters.
UPDATE by Dave: Today is NOT the big day. Jesse Helms, in his most positive act as a Senator, died over the weekend, and his funeral will delay the FISA vote until Wednesday. There will be debate in the Senate today, with votes likely tomorrow. You have additional time to call your Senators.
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The United States Senate will soon vote on whether to provide retroactive immunity to the big telecom companies who broke the law with George Bush and violated the constitution with warrantless wiretaps (beginning before 9/11). From her absurd perch on the Judiciary Committee, Senator Dianne Feinstein has been leading the push to protect Bush by protecting the telecoms and preventing discovery in the case so the American people never get their day in court and our country may not be able to find out the true extent of shredding of the Constitution that DiFi enabled. Senator Feinstein put our presidential nominee in an awful position with her representation of the administration and made a joke of Art Torres.
Today is the big day and if Senator Feinstein violates her oath of office and does not defend the Constitution, she is likely to face censure again. And while DiFi never responded to the outcry by over 40 wonderful organizations leading the push to censure her, we do know where she stands on censure. You see, Feinstein once pushed her own censure resolution and tell me if the language she used doesn't sound like she thinks she should be censured.
Our friends at Blue America note Senator Dianne Feinstein is hiding under the covers at an undisclosed location:
Christy has put in tons and I mean tons of hard work finding out where our elected officials are going to appear over the fourth of July holiday. It seems some of them (*cough Diane Feinstein cough*) are using the "terrorist threat" to refuse to let their constituents know where they will be.
National security is a convenient excuse for so very many things.
So you'll probably have a tough time seeing DiFi this Independence Day to ask her to honor her oath of office to defend the Constitution and filibuster retroactive immunity. But Blue America has a nifty tool for you to whip votes.
There is a great deal of disgust with Barack Obama's massive flip-flop on retroactive immunity, but let's remember that from day one it was Dianne Feinstein trying to undermine him and the Constitution. I feel sorry for Obama, Senators like DiFi put him in a lose/lose situation. And if you've seen much news today, you won't be surprised that after flip-flopping on defending the Constitution he's getting beat up all over by people concluding he'll also flip-flop on Iraq. So give DiFi a call and give her a piece of your mind. Celebrate Independence Day and then go have BBQ or such to enjoy the 4th of July.
UPDATE: Senator Feinstein turned off the answering machine in her DC office and suggests calling a California field office. Numbers after the jump.
UPDATE II: Both her DC and LA offices automatically hung up after the message and the mailboxes are full at all of her other field offices. The online form is the only way to contact DiFi this Independence Day to ask her to support the Constitution. Turning off answering machines and hiding from the public? I think she belies her realization that constituents are pissed.
In the last couple days, there have been several posts across the blogosphere citing what various candidates running for Congress have said on FISA and retroactive immunity for the telecoms. But so far, it's been all over the map. I've tried to corral all their statements into my diary on Daily Kos, so you can see who the "good guys" are.
First, let's start off with the current House and Senate members who voted against this bill. They do deserve credit, as it's their jobs on the line.
Below the fold, I've modified the original diary to list just the California Democratic challengers running who are standing up for the Constitution, and are against this FISA bill and retroactive immunity.
Boy, lameduck CDP Chair Art Torres sure looks like shit. All that smoke he blew up the asses of the E-Board about how DiFi listens to him and so she shouldn't be censured -- well it was all crap. He stuck his neck out to vouch for DiFi on an issue as simple as upholding her oath of office and by doing so made an ass of himself and made himself look irrelevant at the same time. Didn't think it could get any worse than the scandal over the $4 million payola to Fabian Nunez, but Torres sure out did himself on this one.
Also not surprising, Senator Barbara Boxer fought to defend the Constitution against domestic enemies like Senator Dianne Feinstein. And fortunately for her, she's putting together a strong re-election campaign that won't rely upon the worthless CDP during the time we are recovering from the Torres dynasty.
The great statement by Senator Barbara Boxer on how those who vote for retroactive immunity, "are perpetuating a cover-up" is good news for everyone who defends the Constitution. While Sen. Boxer has yet to vow to join the Feingold/Dodd filibuster, the thinking by many seems to be that Boxer will fight hard for what she believes in so many activists I've talked to are excited by anticipated aggressive maneuvering by Boxer to stop retroactive immunity.
As for the other senator...there is a great deal of concern that Senator Dianne Feinstein will capitulate. While defending Senator Feinstein against the push to have her formally censured by the California Democratic Party, Chair Art Torres said:
I said I think it's important that you hear this from me because there's also concern about the telecom immunity issue which will come before the senate judiciary committee. Don't believe me, ask my friend Senator Dodd, who will tell you that she led the effort along with him to make sure that that wasn't in the FISA bill that emerged from the senate judiciary committee. That bill as you know does not include the telecom immunity issue, which was a very important issue for me, and I'm proud that she listened, because she does.
Does she? (202) 224-3841
If not, she is likely to again face a censure push by CDP activists seeking to hold her to account.
The following California Democrats caved on retroactive immunity and disregarded their oath to, "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic":
Joe Baca, Howard Berman, Dennis Cardoza, Jim Costa, Jane Harman, Jerry McNerney, Nancy Pelosi, Brad Sherman, Adam Schiff, Ellen Tauscher
Pete Stark did not vote. This is the list of those who are potential targets of the Blue America PAC vs Retroactive Immunity which as of now has raised $310,673 to, "fund accountability for congressmembers supporting retroactive immunity and warrantless wiretaps." This money isn't going to send thank you cards to the members who did defend the constitution, this is primary money and cold cash to dump Steny Hoyer from leadership (Rahm Emanuel also capitulated).
As the battle moves to the Senate, all eyes are on Barack Obama nationally and Dianne Feinstein locally [(202) 224-3841].
As for 2010 primaries, it will be interesting to see what comes out of this. Carole Migden's 3rd place finish showed that entrenched politics matters less in a modern media environment. Ellen Tauscher is again practically begging to be primaried and in that district she's walking on thin ice. Joe Baca deserves particular scorn as the only Californian to sign the Blue Dog letter to Pelosi pushing capitulation (and a primary of Baca could probably receive significant institutional support from former members of the Hispanic Caucus). McNerney has outdone himself in contracting a full-blown case of Potomic Fever during his first term, every time he makes a move I think about asking for a refund. And Harman and Berman voting to cover-up warrantless wiretapping isn't going to do much to quell the rumors that they are pushing this because they are worried about their own culpability on the issue.
If you live in one of this districts, please call your member and ask them why. Comments and diaries with responses are highly encouraged.
The handshakes have been made, the contribution checks have been written, and the telecom industry and corporate shill Democrats have joined forces to immunize lawbreaking and undermine the rule of law. This time, for real.
A final deal has been reached on a rewrite of electronic surveillance rules and will be announced Thursday, two congressional aides said.
The aides said the House is likely to take up the legislation Friday....
As of Wednesday, sources said the new bill would allow a federal district court to decide whether to provide retroactive legal immunity to telecommunications companies being sued for their role in the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance program....One source said the federal district court deciding on retroactive immunity would review whether there was "substantial evidence" the companies had received assurances from the government that the administration's program was legal.
Absolutely absurd. Not only does this bill still allow for mass surveillance on American citizens, but according to its provisions, if the Attorney General wrote a "get out of the Constitution free" note to its telecom partners, which we alrady know they did, then they are allowed to violate federal statutes. The telecoms don't have any lawyers who can provide their own analysis, apparently. I guess all the money goes into lobbying. This is total amnesty without any way of discovering who broke the law and when. The entire point of telecom immunity was to shut down any investigations into spying on Americans. Democrats are cupable for having not spoken up to stop this when they had the chance and the Hoyer-Rockefeller axis wants to just bury the bodies.
This will come up for a vote as soon as TOMORROW in the House, despite being just released today. Your representative needs a call. Joe Baca is a Blue Dog who supported the good FISA bill, the one without amnesty. He in particular needs some attention.
When this reaches the Senate, it will be another accountability moment for Dianne Feinstein. She has tried to duck this debate repeatedly, but she can tell us by her vote where she stands - with corporate execs and lobbyists, or with the rule of law and the right to privacy.
Several months ago, at a time where Dianne Feinstein was facing censure for a series of votes siding with the Bush Administration over Democratic values or the Constitution, Art Torres assured us all, in a highly emotional speech, that he discussed telecom immunity, a forthcoming issue, with her, and that "thanks to her" immunity was stripped from the bill.
"Don't believe me, ask my friend Senator Dodd, who will tell you that she led the effort along with him to make sure that [immunity] wasn't in the official bill that emerged from the Senate Judiciary Committee."
That wasn't true then, of course; Patrick Leahy's ju-jitsu by putting immunity in Title II of the bill and then dropping it was what did the trick. But of course, that wasn't enough. The Intelligence Committee bill, the one with amnesty for the phone companies, was what made it to the floor. Feinstein offered some amendments. Her "exclusivity" amendment to make FISA the exclusive means under which government spying takes place "failed" because only 57 Senators voted for it; under the unanimous consent agreement, that particular amendment needed 60 votes to pass because it had too much support. This essentially invalidates all laws passed by the Congress, since in the absence of exclusivity, what is implied is that the President has the ability to go outside whatever law is passed.
So in that environment, there was a vote to strip telecom immunity from the bill. This is something the President alone can't dictate to the courts. This is the only opportunity to find the truth about how our government spied on us. And Dianne Feinstein, hoping that we weren't paying attention, voted against stripping it out.
It was a few months away from any pressure on her, so she felt OK with allowing the President to break American laws. Here's what's happening today:
The Senate today -- led by Jay Rockefeller, enabled by Harry Reid, and with the active support of at least 12 (and probably more) Democrats, in conjunction with an as-always lockstep GOP caucus -- will vote to legalize warrantless spying on the telephone calls and emails of Americans, and will also provide full retroactive amnesty to lawbreaking telecoms, thus forever putting an end to any efforts to investigate and obtain a judicial ruling regarding the Bush administration's years-long illegal spying programs aimed at Americans. The long, hard efforts by AT&T, Verizon and their all-star, bipartisan cast of lobbyists to grease the wheels of the Senate -- led by former Bush 41 Attorney General William Barr and former Clinton Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick -- are about to pay huge dividends, as such noble efforts invariably do with our political establishment.
Every single Senator, all of whom committed to a unanimous consent agreement that precluded any possibility to amend the bill, is responsible. But everyone in the world knew Dianne Feinstein would sell us out and give the phone companies what they wanted for violating civil liberties. Everyone, that is, except for Art Torres.
I'd like a personal apology, thanks. So should everyone who was in that room in Anaheim.
[UPDATE]: In case anyone was wondering, DiFi's "good faith" amendment fell to defeat, 41-57. Chris Dodd rightly voted against it, because it was an idiotic compromise.
Several months ago, at a time where Dianne Feinstein was facing censure for a series of votes siding with the Bush Administration over Democratic values or the Constitution, Art Torres assured us all, in a highly emotional speech, that he discussed telecom immunity, a forthcoming issue, with her, and that "thanks to her" immunity was stripped from the bill.
"Don't believe me, ask my friend Senator Dodd, who will tell you that she led the effort along with him to make sure that [immunity] wasn't in the official bill that emerged from the Senate Judiciary Committee."
That wasn't true then, of course; Patrick Leahy's ju-jitsu by putting immunity in Title II of the bill and then dropping it was what did the trick. But of course, that wasn't enough. The Intelligence Committee bill, the one with amnesty for the phone companies, was what made it to the floor. Feinstein offered some amendments. Her "exclusivity" amendment to make FISA the exclusive means under which government spying takes place "failed" because only 57 Senators voted for it; under the unanimous consent agreement, that particular amendment needed 60 votes to pass because it had too much support. This essentially invalidates all laws passed by the Congress, since in the absence of exclusivity, what is implied is that the President has the ability to go outside whatever law is passed.
So in that environment, there was a vote to strip telecom immunity from the bill. This is something the President alone can't dictate to the courts. This is the only opportunity to find the truth about how our government spied on us. And Dianne Feinstein, hoping that we weren't paying attention, voted against stripping it out.
It was a few months away from any pressure on her, so she felt OK with allowing the President to break American laws. Here's what's happening today:
The Senate today -- led by Jay Rockefeller, enabled by Harry Reid, and with the active support of at least 12 (and probably more) Democrats, in conjunction with an as-always lockstep GOP caucus -- will vote to legalize warrantless spying on the telephone calls and emails of Americans, and will also provide full retroactive amnesty to lawbreaking telecoms, thus forever putting an end to any efforts to investigate and obtain a judicial ruling regarding the Bush administration's years-long illegal spying programs aimed at Americans. The long, hard efforts by AT&T, Verizon and their all-star, bipartisan cast of lobbyists to grease the wheels of the Senate -- led by former Bush 41 Attorney General William Barr and former Clinton Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick -- are about to pay huge dividends, as such noble efforts invariably do with our political establishment.
Every single Senator, all of whom committed to a unanimous consent agreement that precluded any possibility to amend the bill, is responsible. But everyone in the world knew Dianne Feinstein would sell us out and give the phone companies what they wanted for violating civil liberties. Everyone, that is, except for Art Torres.
I'd like a personal apology, thanks. So should everyone who was in that room in Anaheim.
Marcy Wheeler has two excellent stories up today at her new home which I highly recommend to you if you want to understand Dianne Feinstein's evolving position on FISA and retroactive immunity for the telecoms. We know that, several weeks ago, Feinstein was wholly in support of immunity, having happily voted for it in the Intelligence Committee. During yesterday's floor debate, she offered a couple amendments, both with the goal of putting the warrantless wiretapping program and all questions about it, now and forever, under the authority of the FISA court. In Marcy's first piece, she notes the conservative reaction to Feinstein's amendment asking that the question of immunity be decided by the FISA court instead of the Congress.
310-914-7300 (Los Angeles)
415-393-0707 (San Francisco)
619-231-9712 (San Diego)
559-485-7430 (Fresno)
Here is some suggested text when asking her to support Chris Dodd's filibuster:
Amendment IV. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
There are some things that an elected official is not supposed to keep an "open mind" about, as spelled out in their oath.
If you didn't already know, the Senate Judiciary Committee reported out a FISA bill yesterday that does not grant immunity to telecom companies for participating in the illegal spying on Americans in George Bush's warrantless wiretapping program. It's convoluted, but there were basically two bills, a Title I and a Title II. Title I had no immunity; Title II did. Russ Feingold tried to strip immunity from Title II, but he failed, and DiFi voted for immunity. But at the end of the day, only Title I got reported out.
This is NOT a total victory. First of all, Harry Reid could decide to bring the Intelligence Committee's bill, which has immunity, to the full floor. And there will almost certainly be an amendment calling for immunity on the floor, even if an immunity-free bill is called up for vote. So the Judiciary Committee basically punted.
But this James Risen article untangling what happened yesterday has an interesting little nugget halfway down the page.
(UPDATE: The ACLU and CREDO, formerly Act For Change, are also pushing Sen. Feinstein.)
In addition to the buzz in the blogosphere about activist efforts to censure Dianne Feinstein for her votes with Bush Republicans on key issues, some of the top progressive organizations have DiFi in their sights. MoveOn is asking their California members to call Feinstein about tomorrow's vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee over the revised FISA bill, and tell her not to grant retroactive immunity to telecom companies who violated the law by handing over information to the Bush Administration.
Senator Dianne Feinstein is facing tremendous pressure from the Bush administration. Tomorrow, she will likely vote on whether or not to let the phone companies off the hook for helping the president illegally spy on the phone calls and emails of innocent Americans.
President Bush wants immunity for these companies to cover-up his own illegal actions. The pending lawsuits against companies like AT&T may be the only way we ever find out how far the Bush administration went in breaking the law.
We have to make sure Sen. Feinstein hears from us right away. Can you call Sen. Feinstein and tell her to vote against immunity for big corporations who break the law? Tell her that voters want accountability and oversight-not immunity.
Here's where to call:
Senator Dianne Feinstein
Phone: 202-224-3841
DiFi has already signaled her intention to allow telecom immunity for lawbreakers, but clearly she needs to feel the pressure. What is far more interesting is DFA's effort to have Feinstein removed from the Senate Judiciary Committee altogether. on the flip...
