Domestic surveillance program began soon after 9/11, intelligence agencies say

By GottaLaff

All these various leaks and reports are inflating the narrative, and the stories are growing, the way kids blows up balloons... Huff, puff, bigger... bigger... huff.. puff... until... eventually...

Pop!

The highly controversial warrantless surveillance program initiated by President George W. Bush began within weeks of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to a newly released report to Congress compiled by the inspectors general of the nation’s top intelligence agencies, the Pentagon, and the Justice Department.

The report, mandated by Congress, provides context to information that has been leaked in press accounts and buttressed by congressional testimony and in books authored by former officials involved in the surveillance effort.

The report notes that several members of Congress — including then-House Intelligence Committee Chairman Nancy Pelosi — were briefed on the program on October 25, 2001, and a total of 17 times before the program became public in 2005.

Among other things, the report also cites a Justice Department conclusion that “it was extraordinary and inappropriate that a single DOJ attorney, John Yoo, was relied upon to conduct the initial legal assessment of the (surveillance program).”

“The lack of oversight and review of Yoo’s work … contributed to a legal analysis of the (program) that at a minimum was factually flawed,” it says.

Cheney oversaw briefings on interrogation methods

By GottaLaff

Paddy touched on this earlier in her linkage post. Here are a few more details:

Former Vice President Dick Cheney personally oversaw at least four briefings with senior members of Congress about controversial interrogation programs, part of a secretive and forceful defense he mounted throughout 2005 in an effort to maintain support for the harsh techniques used against detainees. [Laffy Note: Torture. It's called torture. Okay? Okay.]

The Cheney-led briefings came at some of the most crucial moments for the program, as congressional oversight committees were threatening to investigate or even terminate the techniques used in interrogations, according to lawmakers, congressional officials and current and former intelligence officials.

Cheney's role in helping handle intelligence issues in the Bush administration has been well documented, particularly his advocacy for the use of aggressive methods and warrantless wiretapping against suspected terrorists. But his hands-on role in defending the interrogation program to lawmakers has not been previously publicized. [...]

CIA records indicate another "briefing" -- for whom the briefer is "not available" -- was given to Senate GOP leaders on Nov. 1, 2005. That was the same day Cheney made his regular appearance at the weekly Tuesday luncheon for Senate Republicans.

After staffers were cleared from the room, Cheney discussed the value of the interrogation program and the information gleaned from the harsh techniques, according to contemporaneous media accounts.

Cheney's briefing on interrogations began in the winter of 2005 as the top Democrats on the Senate and House intelligence committees, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) and Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice) publicly advocated a full investigation of the tactics used against top Al Qaeda terrorism suspects.

On March 8, 2005 -- two days after a detailed report in the New York Times about interrogations -- Cheney gathered Rockefeller, Harman and the chairmen of the intelligence panels, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), and Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), according to current and former intelligence officials.

Weeks earlier, Roberts had publicly suggested possible support for the interrogation investigation sought by Rockefeller.

But by early March 2005, Roberts announced that he opposed a separate investigation, and the matter soon died.

Please keep going on the Tee Vee Machine, Dick. Please never stop opening your big fat yap. Let's see how your words stand up to your well-documented actions. And then let's get your testimony, on the record, and see how that compares to your Tee Vee appearances and the memos.

Should be illuminating.

What could Nancy Pelosi have done?

By GottaLaff

Good recap:

While it remains unclear what Pelosi knew and when she knew it, it should not be forgotten that Pelosi did not write the memos authorizing the use of torture or carry that torture out; the Bush administration did. Further, the CIA briefed Pelosi without staff, told her their practices were legal, and forbade her from discussing the meeting with colleagues. As such, Pelosi could not work to “outlaw the practices.” Marc Ambinder notes that the only way Pelosi could have registered her objections at that time was to “walk out of the briefing, telling those CIA officials who came that what she just heard did not constitute a formal briefing.” The result? The CIA would have simply tried to re-brief her at a later date, but the Bush administration would have continued to carry out torture anyways.

Let me say this in short, declarative sentences: BushCo tortured. They did it. BushCo. Did. It. Let's not forget that. Let's not get sidetracked. BushCo is responsible.

Nancy Pelosi on CIA waterboarding report: Nuh-UH

By GottaLaff

Back story here. Now Nancy is saying hold your horses, guys:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is disputing a CIA account sent to Congress that raises questions about her insistence she was never told explicitly that waterboarding had been used on terrorist suspects. [...]

Last month, Pelosi told reporters that she was told about the legal justification for the interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, but was never told the controversial technique had been used on any detainees.

"We were not — I repeat — were not told that waterboarding or any of these other enhanced interrogation methods were used."

In a statement issued Friday, Pelosi said: "Of the 40 CIA briefings to Congress reported recently in the press, I was only briefed once, on September 4, 2002, as I have previously stated.

"As I said in my statement of December 9, 2007:

"'I was briefed on interrogation techniques the administration was considering using in the future. The administration advised that legal counsel for both the CIA and the Department of Justice had concluded that the techniques were legal.'

"I had no further briefings on the techniques.

"My understanding of the briefing I received is consistent with the description that CIA General Counsel Scott Muller provided to Congresswoman Jane Harman in a letter dated February 28, 2003, which states:

"'As we informed both you and the leadership of the Intelligence Committees last September, a number of executive branch lawyers including lawyers from the Department of Justice participated in the determination that, in the appropriate circumstances, the use of these techniques is fully consistent with U.S. law.'

"As reported in the press, a cover letter from CIA Director Panetta accompanying the briefings memo released this week concedes that the descriptions provided by the CIA may not be accurate."

However, a CIA spokesman said, "great care was taken with the list not to go beyond what the records themselves say."

A recently declassified Justice Department memo from 2005 said, "The CIA used the waterboard 'at least 83 times during August 2002′ in the interrogation of Zubaydah." That was before the September Pelosi-Goss briefing.

Whether Pelosi knew that waterboarding had been used or was told only it had been approved for use, she did not raise any objection at the time about the technique.

Rep. Harman, D-California, who took over Pelosi's position on the Intelligence Committee, did write a letter in February 2003, shortly after she was briefed, raising objections about the legality of the enhanced interrogation techniques.

Did so! Did not! Did so! Did not!

Unintentional comedy video of the year: BushCo snubs IWRC* Palin re: Iraq troop deal meeting

By GottaLaff



Priceless:

This week, Sens. John McCain (R-AZ), Barack Obama (D-IL), and Joe Biden (D-DE) all were contacted by Defense Secretary Robert Gates or Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice regarding the Iraq security agreement.

In today’s White House press briefing, spokesman Dana Perino explained that the adminstration contacted the candidates “to keep them equitably informed.” “One of them is going to win the election, and they will be taking over and having to deal with these issues,” Perino explained. But nobody called Gov. Sarah Palin. In today’s State Department briefing, reporters got a chuckle out of Palin being left out.

Transcript:

Q: You called Senator Biden, you called McCain. Did you also call Governor Palin?

McCORMACK: No. If you hadn’t noticed, she’s a governor. Not a senator or a congressman.

Q: She’s a vice presidential candidate.

McCORMACK: Right.

Q: She also has extensive foreign affairs experience. (LAUGHTER)

McCORMACK: Right. I explained to you the reasoning behind the phone call.

Q: Maybe if this has to do with Russia, you would have called her.