FISA: White House Push Is About Protecting Business

Last week, a lot of the rhetoric from the red side of the Beltway went like this: Congress must pass the Senate version of the FISA reauthorization because otherwise the Administration will be hamstringed when it comes to dealing with terrorists (underlying message ... and we'll have another 9-11 and it will be the Democrats fault).

A White House intelligence official put that argument to bed last week. Bet ya didn't hear that on the 6 o'clock news! In an interview with NPR, no less:

Mike McConnell, director of national intelligence, told Renee Montagne the main issue is liability protection for the private sector.

"We can't do this mission without their help," he said. "Currently there is no retroactive liability protection for them. They're being sued for billions of dollars."

Funny, no one mentions Qwest, which followed the advice of corporate counsel and refused to cooperate.

See Senate grants Bush extraordinary, unchecked powers (editorial); Senate FISA update should move forward (editorial); Retroactive Immunity (editorial)

Prior reports: GOP Pushes FISA Aside For Economic Stimulus, What Is FISA?, What Happened In August To Make Warrantless Wiretaps Temporarily Legal?