Patriot Act Author Calls For Clapper's Prosecution And Rein In NSA Abuses

Zero Hedge ^ | 10/12/13 | Submitted by Michael Krieger of Liberty Blitzkrieg blog

[Nachum]

In an interesting twist of irony, one of the Congressman most instrumental in the destruction of civil liberties in these United States due to his authorship of the Patriot Act, Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.), is now leading the charge to rein in NSA abuses. His disgust with the NSA became clear back in early June when he wrote an impassioned letter to Attorney General Eric Holder criticizing the illegal NSA activity happening behind the scenes. The key point here is that Mr. Sensenbrenner strongly believes that these guys are misinterpreting the legislation he wrote to justify everything they are doing. As such, he and others are proposing legislation to make it crystal clear what is and what is not appropriate surveillance.

Not only that, he is also calling for the prosecution of James Clapper the current Director of National Intelligence, who perjured himself in front of Congress earlier this year. Mr. Sensnbrenner said:

Oversight only works when the agency that oversight is directed at tells the truth, and having Mr Clapper say he gave the least untruthful answer should, in my opinion, have resulted in a firing and a prosecution.

This guy means business. More from the Guardian:

The conservative Republican who co-authored America’s Patriot Act is preparing to unveil bipartisan legislation that would dramatically curtail the domestic surveillance powers it gives to intelligence agencies.

Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner, who worked with president George W Bush to give more power to US intelligence agencies after the September 11 terrorist attacks, said the intelligence community had misused those powers by collecting telephone records on all Americans, and claimed it was time “to put their metadata program out of business”.

[quimby]

At least we have one republican standing up for privacy. Thank you Congressman Sensenbrenner.

Shame on the rest of you tyrants.

[Regulator]

The big point about both Clapper and Keith Alexander is that they’re insubordinate.

A guy like Sensenbrenner probably doesn’t have that much issue with them doing what they gotta do but only if Sensenbrenner and Congress told them they could.

If they didn’t, they’re a pair of peckerwoods who need to be court martialed.

These agencies are the ones that should be above suspicion. The fact that they come out and lie, dissemble and diss the oversight committees will get them shut down series fast.

[SpaceBar]

Patriot Act Author Calls For Clapper's Prosecution And Rein In NSA Abuses

Gosh, I feel so much better now. Author of the enabling acts wants himmler to cool it. mmkay.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

The key point here is that Mr. Sensenbrenner strongly believes that these guys are misinterpreting the legislation he wrote to justify everything they are doing. As such, he and others are proposing legislation to make it crystal clear what is and what is not appropriate surveillance.

Well, that's something, I guess. Better would have been if Sensenbrenner had written the Patriot Act a lot more tightly, with strict definitions and limitations. And better still would have been if he had not written the Patriot Act at all - there was no good reason for this bizarre, cynical exploitation of the 9/11 atrocities except as a basis to expand federal power over the lives of American citizens and establish new bureaucracies which can never be abolished.

[ridesthemiles]

Give them an inch, they take a mile.

More chaos from the Liberals.

[T-Bird45]

Never wasting a crisis is central to all government of every stripe, it’s the nature of the beast. Many pointed out the pitfalls only to be trashed for not taking “security” seriously. Same goes for the formation of Homeland Security, the 2000s version of the Gestapo, at least by direct translation. Gestapo = Geheim Staats Polizei = Homeland state police.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Nachum.