I previously wrote a column how our country seems to have developed separate rules for the ruling elite and the rest of us. There is no better example than the lack of response of the Senate to the admitted perjury of Director of National Intelligence James Clapper before Congress. While the Justice Department has prosecuted people for the smallest departure from the truth, including testimony before Congress, no one in the Senate is calling for an investigation, let alone a prosecution, of Clapper. For his part, Attorney General Eric Holder is continuing his political approach to enforcing the law and declining to even acknowledge the admitted perjury of Clapper. Now, in a truly bizarre moment, Clapper has written a letter of apology like an errant schoolboy to excuse his commission of a felony crime . . . and it appears to have been accepted. What is curious is that we do not have letters from senators like Dianne Feinstein apologizing to doing nothing when they were all aware that Clapper was lying in his public testimony. Welcome to America’s Animal Farm.
When National Intelligence Director James Clapper appeared before the Senate, he was asked directly, “Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?” Clapper responded, “No, sir. … Not wittingly.”
We now know that was a lie. Moreover, many of the senators who heard that testimony knew it was a lie because they admitted later to knowing about the NSA program to gather data on every citizen. Later, Clapper said that his testimony was “the least untruthful” statement he could make. Yet, of course, that would still make it an untrue statement — which most people call a lie and lawyers call perjury. Indeed, when Roger Clemens was prosecuted for untrue statements before Congress, he was not told of the option to tell the least untrue statement on steroid use.
Now, he has added an “oops, my bad” letter addressed to Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein. She was an obvious choice. Feinstein has led the move to erode privacy protections for citizens and was fully aware that his testimony was false. If he were to be prosecuted, it would be embarrassing for her. She has been in this position before. Feinstein and other Democratic leaders were aware of the torture program under Bush and did nothing. They then worked to block any moves to investigate and prosecute torture under our treaty obligations — cases that would have exposed Democratic members like Feinstein who knew and did nothing.
That was the same approach to Clapper’s perjury. Clapper struggles in the letter to suggest that he was confused — though he earlier said that it was a calculated answer. Since the question was given to him in advance (something the public is never informed of in these highly choreographed hearings), it is rather implausible. He now says that “simply didn’t think of” the pertinent section of the Patriot Act under which that information can be collected. It seems an effort to get Feinstein and other off the hook in suggesting that it was not premeditated, though the Justice Department routinely rejects that argument in other cases. Clapper simply wrote “Thus my response was clearly erroneous — for which I apologize.” That’s it.
By the way, that means that the answer to the following question is “yes”: Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans? Feinstein and other members have insisted that they are not collecting such data on citizens.
For its part, the media is cooperating. Few are addressing the obvious perjury or past cases prosecuted on far less. After all, Clapper is one of the ruling elite and not the great unwashed public. The result is perjury by permission, a new exception to criminal acts for the governing elite.
And collecting Metadata does not mean that they read your emails. Tell that to the Instagram kid in the other post today.
Maybe we need a Claptrap Blog. Or better yet a FeinSteinClapTrapBlog. When you are 80 years old the book 1984 does not seem to be out of jive.
Clapper needs to quit. Old Lady Feinstein needs to go to the old farts home. Wyden needs to show some backbone or snakebone and call Clapper on the carpet for his turding on the Congressional carpet.
Jill
1, July 3, 2013 at 10:12 am
“The US is in a state of Constitutional crisis. We have been so under Bush where officials refused subpoenas to testify before Congress, as well as lied under oath. This continues and has intensified under Obama.”
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Agreed, absolutely.
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It has been interesting to me that Clapper (spits) felt the need to lie. He should have refused to answer on the basis that the information was classified. Period. That’s what you are supposed to do if pressed for information that is classified by people that have not been made known to you as having a need to know and the corollary clearance level to know.
Of course that would have led to other, politically embarrassing questions and invited a view of the conflict between the Executive, the security infrastructure, Congress and the citizenry. Maybe even initiate a battle over it if anyone in that political/military milieu was actually interested in doing their job.
Since Clapper had the questions n advance I think he answered in a predetermined manner that would take the focus off of the real issue(s) and put it on him- a side-show, a distraction letting everyone off the hook. You can’t isolate his testimony from the bigger picture.
Presume that the government registers everything on here. I hereby expressly reserve all rights granted to me under the Constitution and I expressly reserve all rights without enumeration of same.
That said, it is my hope that someone with sufficient abilities and unwavering ethics. finds a way to address the disparity in the application of the rule of law, to expressly focus on those that ignore its application, both the wealthy and the poor. Well, at least it would make a good movie. Heard it here first.
LJ (@rebelready),
Only two links per comment are allowed.
This will signal the complete length congress and the president will go to sanction Clapper. And Professor Turley has described the situation exactly, one form of justice for the elites.
It is also glaringly obvious the gov’t can now do whatever neferious and illegal actions it deems fit, but anyone who exposes these deeds the gov’t will go to any length to punish that individual.
Thanks for staying on this, Prof. Turley.
(Now if you could just agree that money is not speech. :O))
Clapper is just one of many politicians that need to be brought up on charges. Unfortunately, some of them are already out of office. When there are two separate rules of law for the wealthy and connected and those of us who are not wealthy and connected, it is not a healthy thing for our democracy.
Longterm, the best way to serve the American people is a Truth Commission that offers conditional immunity from prosecution in exchange for the whole truth. Of course that means releasing the lower-level personnel from prison and expunging their records, people like Kiriakou, Manning, etc. If the big fish (that betrayed their oath of office) get a pass then the little fish (that upheld their oath of office) should be released also. This is the only way to really reform this totalitarian monster!
It is not just Clapper. As soon as Congress let Cheney and Bush not swear to tell the truth about thier knowledge of the events of 9/11, then the descent really took off.
I agree Dredd. Those are really brave people and they are standing against injustice.
nick spinelli 1, July 3, 2013 at 10:30 am
When Bubba Clinton would play a round of golf he would usually take about 9-10 mulligans. This is just a political mulligan. When are you all going to learn that there are 2 sets of rules, and we citizens are @ the shit end of the duopoly system.
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The Egyptians may be setting the example of how to react to our demise.
The comparison to the Animal Farm is particularly apt. All people may seem to be equal but some people are more equal than others. Cops, government officials, and the politically connected who can lie with impunity and never be prosecuted but woe onto the average citizen who fails to be completely truthful in response to a government inquiry
When Bubba Clinton would play a round of golf he would usually take about 9-10 mulligans. This is just a political mulligan. When are you all going to learn that there are 2 sets of rules, and we citizens are @ the shit end of the duopoly system.
One of my former clients spent a year in prison on a perjury conviction for testifying about his personal understanding of a telephone call he was NOT on, while the prosecutors (now Chief White House Counsel and general counsel/Deputy Director of the FBI) hid the truth, yet our elected officials, including our Attorney General can perjure themselves freely before Congress. It’s the Department of INjustice, and the foxes are in the hen house. see http://www.seeking-justice.org
Clapper needs to be prosecuted. The country needs Clapper to be prosecuted. If no prosecution occurs it spells a very public end to this country being a nation of laws.
The US is in a state of Constitutional crisis. We have been so under Bush where officials refused subpoenas to testify before Congress, as well as lied under oath. This continues and has intensified under Obama.
Congress refuses to act as a separate branch of govt. We thus have an executive branch which is out of control, working from secret orders given to ever more secret public/private entities, powers which they do not lawfully have. We are in real trouble in the US.
It is disturbing to see how cowed and complicit Congress acts. Too many of these people know what has been going on and approved of it (this includes things like torture and rendition). They would rather the public not know about their complicity. Therefore, they keep silent.
No terrorist could have destroyed the rule of law more completely than what has been done here. As a US citizen I never signed up for nor gave assent to torture, rendition, imprisonment of the innocent or anyone without fair trial, drone killing, endless warfare and mass surveillance. I want Congress to act as a functioning branch of govt. I do not believe they will.
I have a pending motion for sanctions against DoJ part of which is that they lied to my congressman. DoJ has not responded. The ECF computer gave them until Friday.
DoJ told my congressman that they had no contact with me before a civil hearing. But I was a federal prisoner for 4 months before that hearing.
DoJ told my congressman that my imprisonments were ordered by a magistrate. In fact, they were ordered by the chief federal judge in Colorado. That is significant because if you google Edward Nottingham you will find that the 10th Circuit said he asked a prostitute to lie to investigators and say that they were just dating when they actually had a business prostitution long lasting arrangement.
DoJ told my congressman that I sued third parties under diversity only when I specifically sued them under 42 USC section 1983, went on and on about the state and local statutes that were violated, and had even filed in federal court, on PACER, a letter from the local d.a. saying they have no written statement of probable cause that I committed a crime. I was prosecuted anyway and the police report says they were called because I accused the city council president of violating the zoning and the constitution.
DoJ told my congressman that they had searched the prosecutor’s PROMIS system in Western Wisconsin for records about me. They also sent letters to me saying that. But I got a letter from them yesterday acknowledging that they have no report showing that they ever searched the PROMIS system in Western Wisconsin for records about me. I was a federal prisoner there after DoJ sent a fax to the sheriff saying I was wanted for a federal felony. A felony I was never charged with, which required a grand jury indictment which DoJ never requested.