I have an email from Sen. Chris Dodd thanking me for all my help in defeating telecom immunity. There’s a recommended diary at Daily Kos that erroneously asserts that Diane Feinstein voted against telecom immunity in the Judiciary Committee and asks people to call her and thank her for changing her position. This is all a bunch of bull.
Here is what happened. The Intelligence Committee marked up a FISA amendment bill that provided for telecom immunity. Then that bill went to the Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee couldn’t agree on the issue of immunity and if Chairman Leahy had allowed a vote both Sheldon Whitehouse and Diane Feinstein (who along with Russ Feingold sit on both the Intelligence and the Judiciary committees) would have voted for immunity. Actually, Whitehouse and Feinstein are looking at a compromise offered by ranking member, Arlen Specter.
Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the ranking Republican on the panel, is pushing a plan that would substitute the federal government as the defendant in the lawsuits against the telecommunications companies. That would mean that the government, not the companies, would pay damages in successful lawsuits.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, said in an interview after the vote Thursday that he would support a compromise along the lines of the Specter proposal.
So would Feinstein, who opposed Feingold’s effort to strip immunity.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat who also opposed Mr. Feingold’s measure, pleaded with Mr. Leahy to defer the immunity issue because she wants more time to consider several compromise proposals.
So, don’t go calling Feinstein’s office thanking her for anything. She’s running interference for her corporate backers with all her might.
Leahy simply deferred the issue of immunity and moved the bill to the floor without it. The situation, as it now stands, lies in the hands of Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Because the two committees could not agree, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, will determine which proposals will be considered by the full Senate, said a spokeswoman for the Judiciary Committee.
Here’s what Harry Reid said in a press conference this morning (no link):
“I thought what the work of the Judiciary Committee was exemplary. I think that’s what should happen. And we have a process now where it will be brought to the Senate floor.
As I understand the process, we’ll have the Intelligence bill. There will be a substitute offered by the Judiciary Committee. We’ll
have a vote on that. That’s the way things should be.”
That is about as clear as mud. A literal interpretation is that Reid will introduce the Intelligence Committee version of the bill (that has immunity) and then allow a vote on substituting the Judiciary bill. If Reid does that, it’s obvious that the bill with immunity will prevail. Only by introducing the Judiciary version of the bill will we have any chance of avoiding immunity.
Chris Dodd has promised to put a hold on any bill that has immunity. It’s less clear what he will do about a bill that has ‘substitution’, where the government assumes liability for the telecoms crimes. Specter, Feinstein, and Whitehouse like this idea, which will allow the government to use a state secrets privilege to quash any discovery, and thus, kill all the lawsuits.
Beyond this, the president has promised to veto any bill that does not provide immunity. I’m not sure if they will accept substitution. This means that the only way to avoid immunity for the telecoms is to agree not to pass a FISA amendment at all. This is the exact same situation we are facing with the Iraq supplemental funding bill, which failed to achieve cloture this morning. The Pentagon will now be forced to fund the war out of their own budget.
The Republicans will howl that the Democrats are imperiling our national security by withholding funds for the troops and hamstringing the NSA’s ability to spy on terrorists.
The Democrats need to shrug that rhetoric off and stick to their guns.
If you care about accountability for illegal warrantless surveillance, you need to contact your senators. The most important senator right now is Harry Reid. Give him a call: (202) 224-3542.