Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) writes a letter to editor in today’s New York Times, responding to John Ashcroft’s op-ed pushing for telecomm immunity:
Former Attorney General John Ashcroft leaves out a crucial point when he argues that telecommunications companies that allegedly cooperated with the administration’s warrantless wiretapping program should be shielded from lawsuits.
Telecom companies that cooperate with a government wiretap request are already immune from lawsuits, as long as they get a court order or a certification from the attorney general that the wiretap follows all applicable statutes. [...]
If we want companies and the government to follow the law in the future, retroactive immunity sets a terrible precedent.
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