Procrastinet

The Wednesday Night Ambush - An Insta-Primer

filed under: Stuff to be pissed off about

UPDATE: "I decided I couldn't stay, if the Administration was going to engage in conduct that the Department of Justice had decided had no legal basis." - James Comey, 5/15/07, talking about his decision to resign his position as Deputy Attorney General after the Administration renewed approval for domestic wiretaps despite the Department of Justice's refusal to sign off on the program's legality.

Let's make this very clear: the program was illegal. The Department of Justice told the Administration the program was illegal. The Administration CONTINUED the program. The actions involved were felonies.

Cut. Print. That's a f*cking wrap.

More, though, SO much more than the details laid out below, you have to see this man's testimony to get the feeling of what happened. Please, please set aside 20 minutes, and go to the YouTube site here. It is absolutely chilling.

Comey, John Ashcroft, FBI Director Mueller, and Solicitor General Ted Olson clearly believed that their actions that night were in urgent defense of the United States. Against the administration that still holds the Executive branch of our government, including our current Attorney General.

Also: perj has, as requested, added details about the "Ambush" itself, in the comments.

Okay. Read on.

This is a quick and dirty guide, so some details may later need to be corrected - but here is a handy bar-talk cheat sheet for the current storm brewing for the Administration. It hasn't yet fully broken open in the mainstream, but I think it will, so I wanted to do my little bit to help.

- After 9/11, the administration began warrantless domestic wiretaps, including on US citizens, which is illegal

- John Ashcroft, relying on a legal justification memo by the DoJ's John Yoo, approved the program in secret

- He renewed that approval every 45 days for 2 years

- After 2 years, Yoo left and was replaced with (also conservative) James Comey and Jack Goldsmith, who took a closer look at what Ashcroft had been signing off on

- Comey and Goldsmith FREAKED, concluding that, contrary to Yoo's assurances, the wiretap program was manifestly illegal

- Let's repeat that - the program was feloniously, unconstituionally ILLEGAL

- Comey and Goldsmith sat Ashcroft down and walked him through the issue. Ashcroft freaked

- All three told the administration they would no longer sign off on the program. The administration insisted. The men - INCLUDING JOHN ASHCROFT - threatened to RESIGN if forced to approve the program

- The program, still under the last 45-day approval, CONTINUED - despite the stated opinion of the entire upper ranks of the DoJ, including the AG, that it was manifestly illegal

- Ashcroft entered the hospital for dangerous pancreas surgery. Comey was covering his duties as Attorney General. Comey refused to sign the approval, which was due (the 45 days was up)

- Andy Card and Alberto Gonzales were dispatched to Ashcroft's HOSPITAL ROOM to get his signature on the approval (the "Wednesday Night Ambush")

- Card and Gonzales were intercepted as the DoJ rushed themselves AND THE FBI to Ashcroft's hospital room to bar their entry (I'm hazy on these details - perj, if you're reading, can you fill in?)

- The approval unsigned, the program lapsed briefly, before being re-authorized on slightly more restrictive grounds

- The new restrictions included a clause that tapping was allowable PROVIDED one of the participants in the conversation was speculated to be a member of or affiliated with Al Qaeda. Clearly, this limitation was NOT in the original, 2 year long program of domestic spying

- Comey has now testified that the DoJ had grave reservations not only about the legality of the program, but about whether the Executive Branch was even telling them the truth about the scope

In the aftermath of the Comey testimony, the Washington Post has begun consciously using Watergate-esque language in their editorial page, asking pointedly "What Did Bush Know, And When"?

Stay tuned. And spread the word.

Posted by rjt at May 18, 2007 01:20 PM