Specter. GOP move to dismantle FISA

Senator Arlen Specter spent a week or so patting himself on the back for his 'compromise' with the White House on warrantless wiretaps, but it was obvious upon examination of his proposal that he'd given the administration everything they wanted.

Now his proposed legislation is set to come up before the Judiciary Committee, and if anything, it will be more White House-friendly than even he planned.

The judiciary committee originally sought to bring the NSA wiretapping program into compliance with FISA, but in practice, critics claim, Specter’s FISA amendments actually give the president freedom to expand his wiretapping activities.

A statement released by the office of Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) states that Specter’s bill “gives him even more power than he has asserted under his illegal NSA wiretapping program.”

A different bill, written by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and cosponsored by Specter will also appear before the committee Thursday. Its provisions would do more to limit the NSA program than Specter’s, and would even mandate that the program face judicial review.

But a Senate aide who works closely with Specter tells Raw Story that, “The White House said they would veto any bill that includes a provision for judicial review.”

I'm not sure how much more Republican-style irony I can take from this administration. After a decade of decrying the lawbreaking of Clinton, they're actively dismantling legislation specifically designed to prevent presidents from breaking the law.

But Raw Story also reports today that there's another effort underway to call for accountability on the issue:

Two attorneys representing claimants in a lawsuit over wiretapping by the National Security Agency claim that they have sent subpoenas to the White House today, Raw Story has learned.

Bruce Afran and Carl Mayer, who say they represent hundreds of plaintiffs in lawsuits against Verizon, AT&T, and the US Government, will announnce today that they are serving both the Bush administration and Verizon with subpoenas.