Washblog

Senator [Murray/Cantwell], I write as a PCO (46th District, precinct 1285) to strongly urge your support for Senator Feingold's censure resolution.  I called your offices in D.C. and Seattle on this issue and was told that you haven't made a decision regarding whether to support the resolution.  I was also told that your office needs "more facts" before deciding whether President Bush broke the law with his warrantless wiretapping.

In my opinion, you have all of the facts you need to conclude definitively that the President broke the law. Bush himself admits that he ordered eavesdropping on Americans without the judicial oversight and approval required by FISA, a law passed by Congress thirty years ago. There are no factual disputes about that. Even the Administration doesn't deny any of the facts necessary to establish that Bush broke the law.

While I agree that a factual investigation into the NSA program would certainly be nice -- in order, for instance, to find out if there are other illegal eavesdropping progams which we do not yet know about, and/or to find out how the eavesdropping power was used (something we don't know because the eavesdropping was done in secret, exactly what FISA criminalizes). But no investigation is necessary to conclude that the law was broken because FISA makes it a criminal offense to eavesdrop on Americans without judicial approval and that - by Bush's own (proud) admission - is exactly what his administration did.

More importantly, it is now crystal clear that there isn't going to be an investigation in the Intelligence or Judiciary committees, so hopefully you won't rely on the same surreal argument advanced by some of your collegues that you need "to wait until the investigation is complete" before making any decision regarding censure. The reason there isn't going to be an investigation is because the President's allies in the Senate already voted against it. That just happened last week, and yet some of your collegues seem either not to have heard about the event or to have forgotten that it happened, because they keep saying that they want to wait for the investigation to be complete -- the same investigation that is not going to occur.

In sum, there is no reason for you not to support Senator Feingold's censure resolution.  It is undisputed that the President has broken the law - he admits it.  Indeed, just yesterday Senator Specter acknowledged as much, and instead advanced the argument that the President's violation doesn't matter because FISA is unconstitutional anyway.  Apparently Senator Specter now finds the Supreme Court irrelevant.  Moreover, the President is exceedingly unpopular.  He has polled around 35% approval in poll after poll, so there is nothing for you to lose.  I believe strongly that if you fail to support Senator Feingold's resolution, you will damage your credibility and standing among not only your democratic base, but also among Washington citizens in general, who do not like George Bush or his illegal policies.

For these reasons, I ask that you lend your support to Senator Feingold.  Thanks for your time.

[cross-posted at dailykos]