Reid Finally Gets Enough Balls To Call Out Lawmakers CLAIMING They Were NOT Briefed On NSA Spying

[kpete]

Reid: Senators Have Only Themselves To Blame For Not Knowing About NSA Programs

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said Tuesday that he doesn't have much patience for lawmakers who have claimed they weren't briefed on the National Security Agency's surveillance programs, contending that those elected officials need only look in a mirror if they want someone to blame.

"For senators to complain that 'I didn't know this was happening,' we've had many, many meetings that have been both classified and unclassified that members have been invited to," Reid said during a briefing with reporters, as quoted by the Huffington Post.

He added: "If they don't come and take advantage of this, I can't say enough to say they shouldn't come and say 'I wasn't aware of this,' because they've had every opportunity to be aware of these programs."

Following the reports of the classified NSA programs, Capitol Hill has seemingly been divided between lawmakers who say they were blindsided by the revelations and those who dismissed the details as old news. Sen. John Thune (R-SD) said Monday that "most members of Congress" likely didn't know the breadth of the programs, while Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) said last week that the NSA surveillance "has been going on for seven years."

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/reid-senators-have-only-themselves-to-blame-for

[ananda]

1. CYA and plausible deniability.

..

[joeglow3]

2. So half are negligent in their duties and half don't care about the Constitution

Great group we have.

[Xipe Totec]

3. Next time, just vote no.

Vote no on any measure that you haven't been briefed on. Do not vote uninformed.

[randome]

4. The signs were there all along. Placed there by the dyslexic Ted Cruz.

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[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
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[cali]

5. There are others- like Representative Peter Welch

<snip>

“Congress doesn’t get briefed and when it does get briefed it has to maintain secrecy. If Congress has to take a pledge of secrecy, then we are not able to have discussions with the people we represent about this government program.”

Welch, who said he didn’t know about the PRISM program prior to leaks, called attempts to ascertain how much Congress knew about the programs prior to leaks “kind of a red herring,” because the briefings are often given on the condition of secrecy.

- See more at: http://vtdigger.org/2013/06/11/leahy-sanders-welch-respond-to-nsa-data-collecting/#sthash.XstVv3bT.dpuf

[jeff47]

8. No, actually Congress can act despite the secrecy.

For example, Congress could just de-fund the program by name, instead of description.

In addition, Congress does pass classified laws - the "Black" budget is passed by Congress, but the line items are not public. They can tweak that budget at any time.

Congress's hands are not tied by secrecy. After all, they're the ones who created the secrecy to begin with with the National Security Act of 1947. They can yank it at any time.

[ProSense]

6. Please,

"Reid Finally Gets Enough Balls To Call Out Lawmakers CLAIMING They Were NOT Briefed On NSA Spying"

...it was believable (incredible, but believable) when Senators claimed they didn't read the bill before voting for the Patriot Act.

Remember the vote for the Patriot Act
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022987423

I can still believe Senators don't know everything, but it's not believable that after more than a decade, Bush's illegal wiretapping, two reauthorizations of the Act, hundreds of media reports and FOIA requests, Wyden and Udall's concerns raised over the last year and a lot more, that anyone in the United State Congress can feign ignorance. I have even seen media reports giving them a pass.

It's easier to believe they didn't have all the facts on Benghazi because they skipped those briefings.

[jwirr]

7. The real issue that when "congress" is briefed it is a limited number of trusted members and

no one else is told. For instance if I were going to tell someone I was bombing some Arab country I would choose McCain because I knew he was in favor of the idea and would not tell anyone who was not.