SocraticGadfly: Democratic cave may be coming on FISA renewal

October 09, 2007

Democratic cave may be coming on FISA renewal

According to Talking Points Memo, all the way from a slick, GOP-style acronym (the RESTORE Act to replace PROTECT America) on down, here’s the details of what Democrats are willing to surrender on Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act renewal and expansion:
• The bill would allow so-called “umbrella” warrants from the FISA Court for what The New York Times calls "bundles of overseas communications." That umbrella would last for up to one year and is meant to extend to communications into and out of the United States. If the "target" was in the U.S., however, the administration would have to seek an individualized warrant from the court. …

• Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) is working away on his own version of the bill, and apparently retroactive immunity (for telecoms) might be part of the package.

Gee, given his spinelessness in the past, this just shocks me that Rockefeller would be doing this.

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