Oops: White House spokesliar admits telecoms spied

[tekisui]

Source:The Raw Story

Oops.

On the eve of a vote to give telephone companies immunity for their alleged participation in the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretap program, White House spokesperson Dana Perino admitted that the companies actually spied.

Because they were patriotic.

"The telephone companies that were alleged to have helped their country after 9/11 did so because they are patriotic and they certainly helped us and they helped us save lives," Perino told reporters at Tuesday's press briefing.

The admission, while possibly a verbal slip-up, was first noticed by Ryan Singer, of Wired.

The Senate gave the phone companies immunity by a 69-29 vote. It passed wiretapping bill in its entirety just before 6pm ET, 68-29.

Earlier this afternoon, the immunity measure's staunchest opponent, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), announced he would abandon his effort to block the bill with a filibuster, arguing that the House, which has passed an immunity-free bill, would be a better place to try to strip immunity from Congress's final piece of legislation.

"We lost every single battle we had on this bill," Dodd said on a conference call Tuesday with reporters and bloggers. "And the question is now, Can we do better with the House carrying the ball on this bill?"

The bill to update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, including a provision granting retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that facilitated government spying, passed the Senate on a 68-29 vote Tuesday evening.

link: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Oops_White_House_spokesman_admits_telecoms_0212.html


Another day, another admission of high crimes. Pelosi holds the door as the War Criminals and Constitutional Criminals prepare for their getaway.

[Botany]

1. Excuse me????????

"The telephone companies that were alleged to have helped their country after 9/11 did so because they are patriotic and they certainly helped us and they helped us save lives," Perino told reporters

ATT started spying in Feb 2001

[tekisui]

6. It was only *patriotic* after 9/11?

:shrug:

[Botany]

8. Like I have posted millions times before ....

The bush/Cheney crime family's method of operation.

The NSA/Telecom companies did the spying
The Dept. of Justice was the "muscle"
The media was and is the "front"

BTW in Ohio in 2004 Kerry's Phone's & computers were hacked big time.

[bdamomma]

2. She is just another flea on the windshield

she needs to be held accountable to for dispelling lies and covering up for this filthy administration.

[radfringe]

3. Pelosi holds the door

and Reid has the engine running in the getaway stretch limo

[Jeanette in FL]

4. Now there is a cartoon

for you to draw. Great analogy.

[MissMillie]

5. We continue to protect companies who break the law

and to strip citizens who don't break the law of their rights....

And we profess to love freedom and democracy and spend nearly a trillion dollars to bring our values to Iraq....

"We proclaim ourselves as indeed we are: The defenders of freedom, wherever it continues to exist in the world. But we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home."

[Solly Mack]

7. See? Told people it was our patriotic duty to break the law

Real patriots break the law.

[tekisui]

9. And they will repeat that from now until the day they are on trial.

Every law broken. Every Right stripped. Every Illegal Detention.Every Act of Torture. Every Invasion. Every War Profiteer. Every Executive Order. Every Lie.

We had to be Patriotic.

Lock 'em the fuck up, already.

[Solly Mack]

11. Yep...it was patriotic to torture, to invade, to have secret prisons

to kidnap people, to hold them indefintely... and every dollar gained was a patriot dollar!

and on and on and on and on

:(

[BanzaiBonnie]

12. I've always been against breaking laws

But our leaders have shown us the way. Unfortunately, it's only okay if you have piles of money.

[Solly Mack]

14. True that...need lots and lots of patriot dollars to be a patriotic lawbreaker

Otherwise, you're just a convict.

[Vickers]

10. "alleged to have helped their country"

I never alleged that.

[MiniMe]

13. If they were wiretapping before 9-11, and they didn't prevent or know about

9-11, are we really supposed to believe that they get valuable information to protect us by warrentless wiretapping??