Senator Dodd Announces He Will Stop Telecom Immunity Bill - Updated

Connecticut Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd has vowed to put a hold on a Senate bill that reportedly would grant retroactive legal protection to any phone or internet company that helped with the president's secret, warrantless wiretapping program, Dodd announced via email and on his presidential campaign website Thursday.

Dodd's surprise, pre-emptive strike is extraordinary, since the proposed bill has not yet even been formally introduced. The Senate Intelligence Committee is marking up the bill in a closed hearing. Under Senate rules, any Senator can block legislation from reaching the floor for a vote, but it's a move that is usually done secretly and it can easily anger colleagues and is generally sparingly used.

From Dodd's site:

The Military Commissions Act. Warrantless wiretapping. Shredding of Habeas Corpus. Torture. Extraordinary Rendition. Secret Prisons.

No more.

I have decided to place a "hold" on the latest FISA bill that would have included amnesty for telecommunications companies that enabled the President's assault on the Constitution by illegally providing personal information on their customers without judicial authorization.

Update: Dodd's move is fairly stunning and gutsy. As I wrote elsewhere, Dodd is going all in with his political capital on this. Even if he wins, he'll pay a price in the Senate for this stand.

Update 2: Salon's Glenn Greenwald brilliantly summarizes the situation before Dodd stepped in:

AT&T's customers sued them for violating their privacy in violation of long-standing federal laws and for violating their Fourth Amendment rights. Even with the most expensive armies of lawyers possible, AT&T and other telecoms are losing in a court of law. The federal judge presiding over the case ruled against them – ruled that the law is so clear they could not possibly have believed that what they did was legal – and most observers, having heard the Oral Argument on appeal, predicted that they will lose in the Court of Appeals, too.

So AT&T and other telecoms went to Washington and – led by Bush 41 Attorney General (and now Verizon General Counsel) William Barr, and in cooperation with their former colleague, Mike McConnell – began paying former government officials such as Dan Coats and Jamie Gorelick to convince political officials to whom they give money, such as Jay Rockefeller, to pass a law declaring them the victors in these lawsuits and be relieved of all liability – all based on assertions that a court of law has already rejected. They are literally buying a judicial victory in Congress – just like Carothers warned that third-world countries must avoid if they want to become functioning democracies under the "rule of law" ("Above all, government officials must refrain from interfering with judicial decision-making").

And in the process – for good measure – they have ensured that there will never be any judicial ruling as to whether our Government and the telecom industry broke the law in how they spied on us for years without warrants. They have placed what they did literally beyond the reach of any law or judicial determination..

Update 3: Welcome Diggers: You might also be interested in this post about how earlier this year, AT&T and Verizon executives sent a spike of cash into the re-election coffers of telecom immunity backer Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-West Virginia), the head of the Senate Intelligence committee that today passed a bill giving telecoms a get out of court pass.

Senator Russell Feingold, a member of the Senate Intelligence commitee who voted against the measure had this to say:

I am deeply disappointed in the Intelligence Committee's FISA bill. The bill, which I voted against, does nothing to protect the rights of innocent Americans communicating with people overseas and it includes unjustified retroactive immunity for those alleged to have cooperated with the Administration's illegal warrantless wiretapping program. I was pleased, however, that two of the amendments offered by Senator Wyden and myself prevailed. One requires a FISA court order to target an American overseas. The other would ensure more meaningful oversight of the new authorities by Congress and the Inspector General. As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, as well as Intelligence Committee, I will continue to fight for the rights of Americans and to protect the Constitution and the rule of law.

According to a Hill watcher, the text of the legislation likely won't be made public until early next week. But given it must also pass through the Senate Judiciary committee before going to the full Senate and that Dodd has promised to put a hold on the bill, this fight will only get more interesting

See Also:

• Democarat Lawmaker Pushing Immunity is Newly Flush with Telco Cash
• EFF Moving to Uncover Telco Immunity Lobbying
• Senate Dems Reportedly Agree To Immunize Spying Telecoms
• Telcos Respond to Spying Questions; AT&T Says Blame the Government