Feingold warns against retroactive immunity for telecoms

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While the final result of what critics say is a flawed surveillance bill is all-but-ordained, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) is not giving up his fight to convince colleagues not to retroactively eliminate any consequences for participating in President Bush’s warrantless wiretapping program that was conducted outside of existing law.

“This immunity provision doesn’t just allow telephone companies off the hook. It will also make it that much harder to get at the core issue that I’ve been raising since December 2005, which is that the president broke the law and should be held accountable,” Feingold said on the Senate floor Tuesday. When these lawsuits are dismissed, we will be that much further away from an independent judicial review of this illegal program.”

Feingold was speaking in favor of an amendment he is co-sponsoring with Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) to strip a grant of retroactive immunity from an update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

RAW STORY’s Nick Juliano has full details here.

This video is from C-SPAN 2, broadcast July 8, 2008.

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