The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a business meeting on Thursday to authorize subpoenas for any legal opinions and advice the Bush administration has received regarding the NSA’s domestic spying program. Politico reports, “Under Judiciary Committee rules, Republicans can postpone the vote on the subpoena authorizations for a week, but Democratic insiders don’t expect Leahy will have any problem gaining approval for the subpoenas at that time.”
UPDATE: Last week, the Justice Dept. refused Leahy’s request to voluntarily turn over domestic surveillance documents for the ninth time.

Go Leahy!!
June 12th, 2007 at 5:59 pmGood. It’s about time!
June 12th, 2007 at 6:02 pmStupid troll thinks this is a game.
It isn’t a game, dumbass.
This isn’t about Repukes and Dems and winning anymore.
This is about the future of our country.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:06 pmThe man is a subpoena machine, too bad Congress won’t close on anything.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:09 pmWe are in serious trouble when the Justice Department ignores subpoenas from Congress.
The Rule of Law is being destroyed in the US by Chimpy and the Repukes.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:09 pmMaybe now we will see which congress person is being blackmailed into voting in Bush’s favor.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:11 pmThey can run but THAT CAN’T HIDE!
June 12th, 2007 at 6:11 pmCorrection: What I meant to say is this: They can run BUT THEY CAN’T HIDE!
June 12th, 2007 at 6:13 pmSorry for the miss print.
Pardon me, TP.
But where is my last post?
Now nobody will know whom Tom3 is referring to.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:14 pm-refresh-
June 12th, 2007 at 6:14 pmCensor the trolls! They’re not important.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:15 pmThe so-called Justice Dept, will refuse/ignore any supoenas and the neo-Nazi GOP on Capitol Hill will spike any enforcement of it, backing up their fuehrer, Bushitler.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:16 pmLeahy probably knows every fax number to the Justice Department.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:19 pmLeahy likes to listen to youngin’ punk rock, ya’ll herd?
June 12th, 2007 at 6:21 pmPLAY effing hardball.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:22 pmHard, to the balls.
.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:23 pmNinth time? WTF are they waiting for? We’ve been hearing about subpoenas being prepared for months now. Get the fuck to it!
June 12th, 2007 at 6:27 pmHey what’s all the anger here? The Media is telling us this is just a beltway problem the people don’t care about the Attorney Generals scandals.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:29 pm-.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:30 pmI’ll give Leahy a couple more chances to show some results with these subpoenas, but he’s in danger of becoming irrelevant.
We need oversight, and oversight requires consequences.
“Embarrassment” is not a sufficient consequence of ignoring the law and acting in Contempt of Congress.
Let’s see some f*cking teeth, Leahy!
June 12th, 2007 at 6:35 pmI’m glad Leahy is finally getting to the subpoenas — aksing nicely nine times is eight times too many, IMHO.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:39 pmFwd.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:40 pmI’d give ‘em three, tops.
Again, these are the same people who think if you’re not doing anything wrong, you shouldn’t mind being spied upon. So why not hand over everything so that the committee can see that nothing was illegal or unethical?
Maybe because they know what they did was illegaland unethical, but they did it anyway. Maybe not, but why hold everything up if you have nothing to hide. Hide behind Exec. Privilage or National Sceurity, they’ll never look there.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:57 pmmeanwhile, over in the house,
rep waxman has postponed
condi rice’s subpoenaed appearance.
but that is not necessarily bad
June 12th, 2007 at 7:09 pmnews — it does make sense to gather
all this new info coming out of the CIA,
and save political capital for a tall,
refreshing glass of “mmmm-peach-mint”
tea — if need be. if, for example, one
pesky scooter libby were to be given
a microwave-able pardon. . . just for
example, here. . . i’m jes’ sayin’. . .
Hey what’s all the anger here? The Media is telling us this is just a beltway problem the people don’t care about the Attorney Generals scandals.
Comment by Rick
The Media should be one of our greatest concerns… they enable and hide the corrupt behaviors and I fear may pick our next president.
June 12th, 2007 at 7:10 pm10101010101
June 12th, 2007 at 7:12 pmDeputy: Cavity search Captain ?
June 12th, 2007 at 7:13 pmCaptain: Deep . . and . . hard .
What about the 5000 RNC “lost” emails? I guess it’s a matter of first things first… Glad Leahy is on it!!
I don’t recognize all the trolls’ names…is there a list somewhere?
June 12th, 2007 at 7:31 pmWe are in serious trouble when the Justice Department ignores subpoenas from Congress. The Rule of Law is being destroyed in the US by Chimpy and the Repukes.
Democrats are assisting Republicans in destroying rule of law and the Constitution.
The DoJ isn’t ignoring subpoenas; the DoJ hasn’t been served any subpoenas. The Democratically controlled Senate Judiciary Committee has only requested (9 TIMES) documentation regarding the NSA’s domestic spying programs and been ignored each and every time. What part of “no, we’re not gonna” did Leahy not understand?
What is that if not collaboration? At the rate Democrats are moving with oversight and investigations, it’ll be 2025 (and we’ll all have ankle-jacks monitoring our every move) before we see any documentation about these illegal NSA domestic surveillance programs.
Leahy needs to skip the liquid lunches and spend his afternoons churning out subpoenas, preparing filings for the courts and increasing the hearings schedule.
June 12th, 2007 at 7:50 pmIt’s really too bad that the Democrats asked 9 times before going for a subpoena. They need to “ask” once and if the Bush Crime Family doesn’t comply, then they need to subpoena. I am so tired of the Democrats acting spineless. The are going to spineless our way into another war with Iran which will be much worse than what we have in Iraq right now. We can’t afford another war much less having the moral authority to start one.
Please Democrats, grow a spine and help us. This country needs courageous leaders like Russ Feingold. Make him the Senate Majority Leader. He’ll show much more spine than Harry Reid any day.
June 12th, 2007 at 7:55 pmThey won’t be able to simply ignore subpoenas when we move on to impeachment hearings. Even executive priviledge will be, as they say “off the table” at that point. I can’t wait for the day when we can finally watch all these self righteous smug motherf#@kers fidget in their chairs in front of television cameras on live television. Even that pig KKKarl will have to haul his sorry self in front of the world and I sincerely hope that bastard lies his ass off so he can spend a good long time in a federal lock-up. I’ve said it before but it’s worth repeating…in the early days of this great democracy all these traitorous power hungry criminals would have been dragged to the main square shackled and crying for their mommies before being summarily hung by the neck until dead for what they’ve done and tried to do to our Constitution and the integrity of this once wonderful land of ours! That includes Rummy, Gonzo, DICK Cheney KKKarl right on up to the top of this blight on our Nation, Chimpy himself! Whew, that felt good to let out. How’s that for anger you scummy little trolls? Actually I’d be just as happy with a simple impeachment for all these pricks. Don’t let them get another penny of my hard earned tax dollars and keep them out of politics for life. Hangings too good for them, I say! While we’re at it I’m sure after we check the logs to see who’s been paying visits to the POTUS & the VPOTUS we can arrest that scumbag Fred Malik just for good measure.
June 12th, 2007 at 8:04 pmSince the DOJ is the “judicial arm” of our government and it considers itself to be “above the law” and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the White house, I’d say that subpoenas mean absolutely zilch at this point. Clearly, the rule of law in this country is out the window.
June 12th, 2007 at 8:18 pmUnfortunately, the various investigations conducted by an assortment of committees will come to zilch as well…..people are lying under oath, feigning memory loss, and otherwise thwarting the investigative process. Generally, it would then go to the Dept. of Justice when subpoenaed items are not forthcoming - like the emails and documents asked of Rich and Rove for starters - and it’s clear that the DOJ is gone from that capacity now so there’s no bite or teeth in anything that Congress does. As I’ve stated, why bother? The Dems don’t have the guts or teeth to do anything credible, that’s becoming acutely obvious.
June 12th, 2007 at 8:20 pmRice and Rove, that is….sorry for the typo.
June 12th, 2007 at 8:21 pmDid I hear the issue of Tax Resistance raised?! Hit http://www.warresisters.org, and stop supporting Bush’s perpetual war(s)!!
June 12th, 2007 at 8:22 pmI guess I’ve become jaded and have lost any sense of belief that this country has not transcended the “breaking point” in this democracy. I feel there’s been a neat, tidy, well-organized “coup d’etat” on this democracy while the people slept. We’ve been duped by true con artists. Realistically, I cannot imagine how many future presidents it will take to return this country to what it was before Team Bush buried it. I certainly don’t expect anything good to come of it in my lifetime.
June 12th, 2007 at 8:23 pm#34 As I’ve been promoting here, Steve….this clearly is “taxation without representation” as the Dems cave on the people now as well. Why are we paying taxes any longer anyway? It makes zero sense since our wishes and desires are falling on deaf, fascist ears.
June 12th, 2007 at 8:24 pmPLAY effing hardball.
Hard, to the balls.
Comment by RUCerious
If they only would… we would see their ratings climb to an all time high. If the dems want to stay in power, we better see some action.
June 12th, 2007 at 8:39 pmAdmittedly, war tax resistance is a more defined, morality-based statement/action. But one can extrapolate from that principle resistance to funding faith-based bullshit, war-profiteering, dominionist destruction of the environment, NSA warrantless wiretapping, torture at US Concentration Camps, the construction of domestic detention camps, etc. Defend America…DEFUND FASCISM!!
June 12th, 2007 at 8:56 pmNine times? NINE TIMES? Leahy needs to issue subpoenas yesterday and start impeachment proceedings. Dems neet to lift the skirts of all of the alleged He Man Republicans - to show the public that the He Men have no balls. How to do that? A Contempt of Congress motion specifically tied to the Rules of Proceedure in the Senate. Let that pussy McConnell vote against his own power as a Senator. Make them all fall on their swords.
June 12th, 2007 at 9:01 pmThis is getting tiring. The Republicans are getting away with murder while thumbing their nose at the Democrats. The Dems better start impeachment hearings or else they are enabling these law breakers to continue making a mockery of our laws. Grow a spine, Democrats!
June 12th, 2007 at 10:17 pmThaaat’s it Democrats,
…gather all the evidence…
…lay out the case…
…nice and simple…
…so the intellectually DISHONEST and morally bankrupt INBREDS…
…can understand…
…not that they’ll care…
…they want to do for Bushiva and l’il Dick…
…what they did for Lincoln…
June 12th, 2007 at 10:18 pmthis post before you see the comments format…
…rubs me the wrong way..
June 12th, 2007 at 10:50 pmThe only way that there are going to be impeachment hearings is, 1) if it’s for both Cheney and Bush, and 2) if there is a groundswell of activity chatting up Nancy Pelosi for president.
That’s the politic way of saying that the impeachment of Bush and Cheney was traded away so that Nancy Pelosi could become the first woman Speak of the House of Representatives.
A woman is only going to become president if she is elected.
June 12th, 2007 at 11:04 pmGrow a spine, Democrats!
Democrats made a deal with the devil. The deal requires them to look as if they have no spine when in truth, it’s us, their constituents whom they are standing up to.
See #43, about why there won’t be any impeachment hearings. And because there won’t be any impeachment, the Democrats are forced to help Bush and Cheney stall investigations, all the while making it look as if they aren’t spineless and inept. Democrats need to keep this frustrating pace going until we’re deeply into the 2008 election campaign and it will be “too late to bother” impeaching.
The will of the people, the good of the nation, is being thwarted. Alot of people are dying in Iraq, and if Bush-Cheney (and Joe Lieberman) have their way, a lot more will be dying in Iran, too.
June 12th, 2007 at 11:19 pmGo get em’ Senator!
June 13th, 2007 at 10:09 am