Of course, my title’s a paraphrase of what the NSA really told Justice Department lawyers recently:
WASHINGTON – The government has abruptly ended an inquiry into the warrantless eavesdropping program because the National Security Agency refused to grant Justice Department lawyers the necessary security clearance to probe the matter.
(continued below the fold)
Well who wants another messy investigation of an illegal spying program anyway? Just some stupid Democratic Congresspersons, and we know how much their opinions matter, now don’t we?
The Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility, or OPR, sent a fax to Rep. Maurice Hinchey (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y., on Wednesday saying they were closing their inquiry because without clearance their lawyers cannot examine Justice lawyers’ role in the program.
“We have been unable to make any meaningful progress in our investigation because OPR has been denied security clearances for access to information about the NSA program,” OPR counsel H. Marshall Jarrett wrote to Hinchey. Hinchey’s office shared the letter with The Associated Press.
That’s okay, however, because everything’s cool, everything’s jake. The NSA would never do anything wrong because it is already subject to just oodles and oodles of oversight by Congress and the President. Really. Don’t just take my word for it, though.
Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said the terrorist surveillance program “has been subject to extensive oversight both in the executive branch and in Congress from the time of its inception.”
Roehrkasse noted the OPR’s mission is not to investigate possible wrongdoing in other agencies, but to determine if Justice Department lawyers violated any ethical rules. He declined to comment when asked if the end of the inquiry meant the agency believed its lawyers had handled the wiretapping matter ethically.
So stop you’re whining Representative Hinchey. It’s so unbecoming of a man in your position:
“This administration thinks they can just violate any law they want, and they’ve created a culture of fear to try to get away with that. It’s up to us to stand up to them,” said Hinchey.
Just for the record (not that I think anyone at the NSA might be paying attention to what I might write or say, oh no, not at all) I just want to say that I think the NSA has been doing a bang-up job, and I see no reason why the Justice Department (or anyone else) should investigate what they are doing. I support the President! I’m a loyal American! Anything my President does in the name of national security and the War on Terror is okie-dokie A-Ok with yours truly.
You betcha.
Justice Department investigation of the NSA
