Action Alert: Don’t Defend Bush/GOP Crimes

I received this from Credo, and am happy to pass it on.

On Wednesday, a federal judge ruled that the National Security Agency was guilty of spying illegally on Americans without a warrant during the Bush years.

In this ruling, the court established definitively that the NSA’s actions directly and clearly violated a law known as FISA, which makes such warrantless wiretapping a felony (and which, incidentally, has all sorts of mechanisms by which the government can easily and efficiently get a warrant).

The judge’s ruling, however, was not simply a sharp rebuke to the Bush administration. It also rejected the efforts on the part of the Obama administration to have the entire case thrown out of court.

Tell President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder: Accept the ruling, don’t appeal it. It’s time to stop defending the abuses of the Bush administration.

What’s incredible about this case, which involved an Oregon-based Islamic charity (called Al-Haramain) and its lawyers, is that instead of arguing that the wiretapping was somehow legal, the lawyers for the Department of Justice under both Bush and Obama consistently tried to invoke what’s known as the state secrets privilege and get the case dismissed.

In essence, the DOJ lawyers were making the incredible claim that despite prima facie evidence that the NSA broke the law, the judge just needed to trust the Executive branch agencies that any kind of trial whatsoever would bring information to light that might damage national security.

So much for the separation of powers.

What’s even more incredible is that a little less than a year ago, President Obama declared the Bush era interpretation of the state secrets privilege was "over broad" and that the Department of Justice under his administration would seek out ways to allow trials to continue with more limited exclusion of evidence based on national security grounds.

Yet the Obama administration DOJ subsequently invoked the state secrets privilege to ask that another illegal wiretapping case be dismissed.

It’s time for President Obama and the Department of Justice to uphold the law of the land, not allow the government to break it with impunity.

Sign our petition telling President Obama and Attorney General Holder to accept the judge’s ruling and stop trying to deny justice to the victims of this incredible abuse of power.

Inserted from <Credo Action>

I hope you will join me in signing this petition.  Just click the Credo Action link.