Bush wants immunity for illegal wiretapping

the President wants immunity for American corporations that may have broken the law while “protecting Americans in the war on terror”.

As if it wasn’t bad enough that the government is working to protect rogue groups like Blackwater from prosecution, now the government is looking to grant immunity to the telecommunications companies that may have broken the law and violated American constitutional rights.

The original article: “Senate judiciary leaders resist leniency for surveillance“, excerpt / modified entry below:

The Senate Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat and Republican expressed reluctance yesterday to granting blanket immunity to telecommunications carriers sued for assisting the government’s warrantless surveillance program. On Tuesday, the committee was given access to some of the documents. But Leahy said yesterday that he had a “grave concern” about blanket immunity, saying that “it seems to grant . . . amnesty for telecommunications carriers for warrantless surveillance activities.”

The activities seem to be “in violation of the privacy rights of Americans” and of federal domestic surveillance law, he said, noting that he is still “carefully considering” what is in the documents. The immunity provision sought by the White House would wipe out about 40 lawsuits that accuse AT&T, Verizon Communications and Sprint Nextel of invading Americans’ privacy and constitutional rights by assisting the government in domestic surveillance without a warrant.

Immunity “is designed to shield this administration from accountability for conducting surveillance outside the law,” Leahy said. Dismissing the lawsuits would eliminate “perhaps the only avenue” for “an honest assessment” of the legality of the warrantless surveillance program, he said. Specter agreed that the “courts ought not to be closed” to such lawsuits. “If, at this late date, the Congress bails out whatever was done before — and we can’t even discuss what has been done — that is just an open invitation for this kind of conduct in the future,” he said.

The overall damages might be in the range of thirty million dollars. There are suggestions of having the government foot the bill or limited damages against the telecommunications industry. The government, as has been the case in the past, is attempting to claim “state secrets” on the matter. They’ve tried to use that defense in just about every lawsuit that threatens to expose the Bush administration and other companies for violating the constitution.

“If we don’t prevail with state secrets,” Wainstein said, “then there’s no guarantee that that information is not going to get out. In fact, even just the filing of lawsuits and the allegations made can actually end up . . . compromising sensitive sources and methods.”

So basically, the government is asking for immunity on an issue that hasn’t even been heard in court. To vote in favor of the government on the issue, would deny people the right to challenge on the question of illegal wireless surveillance and violations of civil liberties. Such is life during this difficult “war on terror” ™. Every time I watch television, all you can do is smile when I hear the AT&T slogan “AT&T, the network you can trust”. Hah, damn liars… I hope they go the way of Bush, the jerks deserve it.

Fred Soto is an Attorney and Entrepreneur from the Silicon Valley.
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