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Senate to Examine "Tool for Cover-Up"
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ShareFebruary 07, 2008 11:18 AM
Despite all but admitting it kidnapped and interrogated the wrong guy, the Bush administration shut down the alleged victim’s civil suit against it by declaring the his ordeal to be a state secret that could not be discussed in court.
For civil liberties advocates, the derailment of German citizen Khaled El-Masri’s claim against the CIA is one of the administration’s more egregious misuses of a power known as the state secrets privilege. It allows the administration to petition a judge to dismiss a case on the grounds that it could disclose information that is vital to national security.
Judges can overrule the administration’s concerns, but experts on the matter say they rarely do. And that’s how alleged victims like El-Masri, who says CIA agents kidnapped him, held for five months and beat him, forever lose their day in court.
It’s the kind of vital constitutional question that Americans and the media rarely fail to ignore. But the Senate Judiciary Committee next week is going to take a closer look at the power -- what Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., has called "a tool for cover-up" -- as well as a bipartisan bill that backers hope will guide judges in considering future state secrets claims.
A Justice Department official will testify at the hearing, slated for Feb. 13, and is expected to defend keeping the authority as broad as possible. He will be joined by several legal scholars. Both the panel's chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and its ranking member, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., are sponsors on the state secrets reform bill, along with Kennedy. It should be interesting.
February 7, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (7)
I hope the Senate and the judiciary slap down the administration on this one. Bush has abused presidential power far more than any two presidents in history. He has trampled upon the Constitution and the civil liberties of every citizen of this country, and it past time someone brought it to a halt.
Posted by: Bob | Feb 7, 2008 12:29:29 PM
Bush is Guilty, Guilty of raping The contitution. Guilty of trading our freedom for his agenda. Guilty of starting a war to give terrorists a new traing ground. Bush is Guilty of trading the Dignity and Meaning of America for a Crown on his Head. Thank god this dictator and his Henchmen are almost done with their damage.
Posted by: AdeebN. | Feb 8, 2008 12:34:40 AM
This comment demonstrates historical illiteracy.
FDR couldn't get all of the supreme court to go along with his ideas so he appointed extra justices to tip the balance in his favor. He also ordered the confinement of all west coast Japanese Americans.
By the way, if you think Bush had weak intelligence for the Iraqi war, the Spanish American war was much worse.
Nothing in the Patriot Act matches what the FBI did without explicit authority while it was run by Hoover.
You may not like Bush but he doesn't set records. As for illegal invasions, try the invasion of Grenada and the US puppets who invaded the Bay of Pigs. You also might want to consider the Banana Wars by the US against South America early in the 20th century.
And if my rights have been trampled, other than by airport security, I haven't noticed it.
Posted by: Yaakov Watkins | Feb 8, 2008 12:42:55 AM
Yaakov is correct in his presentation.
But, given that todays technology is vastly different from Hoovers time makes us (the people) sit up and listen where we never had the chance before or were afraid to do because of what Hoover or McCarthy did. Fear and propaganda can have a devastating effect on people, and for the most part, it worked.
What Bush and previous leaders have done is very apparent. Abuse of power is no laughing matter. It can be subtle or not. In this case, it seems to have started subtly and then gained momentum to start becoming blatant.
Only time will tell if this will affect us to a great degree or not. History teaches us to expect such events.
Remember the Past...
Live in the present...
Look to the Future...
Posted by: Remember... | Feb 8, 2008 10:37:06 AM
Yaakov hasn't noticed any of his rights missing because nobody has "mistakenly" kicked in his door in the middle of the night and taken him to Egypt to be "interrogated" about God knows what. Our founders envisioned the Executive Branch as inherently flawed and prone to seek more power than its due. That is why Impeachment should never be "off the table" at any time - it is what keeps Presidents honest. And individual rights are exactly that - individual. Talk all you want, but I want my Bill of Rights and all of the Amendments that were originally written to keep me "free" from the oppression of a government gone mad.
Posted by: bob | Feb 11, 2008 9:35:32 AM
I think ultimately we've sadly come to expect corruption on our government. Until we change the way we elect officials the temptations will continue to exist.
Posted by: Leeds | Feb 11, 2008 10:09:45 PM
This must not stand. It is well past the time to call this administration on the carpet for its abuses of power. Election year be damned. This is fascism. The government can do no wrong, disagreement with the government is tantamount to treason, and should the government be found to have committed a crime, the law is changed or the crime declared a secret and cannot be pursued.
Posted by: Louis | Feb 12, 2008 3:27:38 PM
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