Dianne Feinstein is set to fail her California constituents and the nation for yet another time. The conservative Democrat recently allowed Mukasey's nomination to go through and his confirmation that took place last night, allowing Bush to get away with torturing people with the waterboarding technique.
Now she wants to give immunity to the giant telecommunications companies that willing engaged in criminal activity with the Bush Administration. The Judiciary Committee has delayed the crucial moment until next week, but her vote is immensely important because of conservative leanings. For now she is siding with the likes of AT&T and Verizon instead of millions of Americans.
From The SF Gate:
The Judiciary Committee is considering immunity for the companies as part of a bill to extend the program past February. Feinstein, in her statement Thursday, said the suits are unfair to the companies, which are "unable to defend themselves in court" because the government has insisted that their activities be kept secret.
Although suits against the companies are "not the right remedy," Feinstein said, the administration should be held accountable through an audit of the surveillance program by the Justice Department's inspector general, as proposed in the Senate legislation.
Cohn disputed Feinstein's assertion that the companies could not defend themselves in the lawsuits. She said federal law allows such defendants to present secret evidence in private to the judge, a practice she said has been carried out for decades without any leaks.
As noted in the article, Feinstein endorsed Senator Rockefeller's statement 'that companies assured by top administration officials that the surveillance program was legal "should not be dragged through the courts for their help with national security." Of course that is complete bullshit and no one should believe Rockefeller, with all the telecom cash that he gets from their lobbyists.
I wonder how much Feinstein gets from them as well?
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