Posted on 08/14/2013 8:21:10 AM PDT by opentalk
Critics demands answers from chairman Mike Rogers after claims that committee failed to share document before key vote
The leadership of the House intelligence committee is under growing pressure to explain whether it withheld surveillance information from members of Congress before a key vote to renew the Patriot Act.
A Republican congressman and government ethics watchdogs are demanding that the powerful panel's chairman, Mike Rogers of Michigan, responds to charges that the panel's leadership failed to share a document prepared by the justice department and intelligence community.
The document was explicitly created to inform non-committee members about bulk collection of Americans' phone records ahead of the vote in 2011. Michigan Republican Justin Amash alleged that the committee kept it from non-committee members – the majority of the House.
… The accusations broaden the focus of the surveillance controversy from the National Security Agency to one of the congressional committees charged with exercising oversight of it – and the panel's closeness to the NSA it is supposed to oversee.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Good!
Remember how Russians had to tune in the VOA or Radio Free Europe to get news about what was really happening in their own countries?
This is like that.
I want my country back.
Culture of corruption is endemic in WDC. Unfortunately, we can’t trust the perps to imprison themselves.
Is our country so far gone we’ll never get it back?
The people who should be standing up and screaming bloody murder about stunts like this are completely silent.
Are you pissed off enough yet?
American media are afraid to report Anything negative about this administration.
pretty serious intimidation.
… it is not the prerogative of the House intelligence committee to keep information about surveillance programs from other legislators ahead of important votes.
"The constitution doesn't just say 12 members or 24 or whatever it is [on the House intelligence committee]: it says all of us have to protect the constitution," Griffith said. "It's one of our prime duties."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.