Rep. Peter King Says It's A Disgrace To Call Out James Clapper For Lying To Congress

from the interesting-moral-barometer dept

Fri, Dec 20th 2013 1:39pm — Mike Masnick

Rep. Peter King's willingness to continually go to bat for the surveillance state, no matter how ridiculous he looks, is quite impressive. As you recall, King used to be a major terrorist supporter -- when those terrorists were his friends in the IRA -- but now acts as if the government should toss out the Constitution if it means some minor advantage in the war against terrorists from a different part of the world with slightly darker skin. King has argued that reporters ought to be prosecuted for reporting on government leaks, even if those leaks revealed unconstitutional programs. He flat out lied about Glenn Greenwald, and then argued that Greenwald should be arrested. He's claimed that calling the NSA's snooping and spying "snooping" and "spying" is a form of slander.

And now, it appears he's directly attacking others in Congress who see the world a bit differently. We pointed out that some in Congress are finally getting much more aggressive in calling for action of Director of National Intelligence James Clapper lying to Congress. Recently, Senator Rand Paul made a claim that is perfectly valid: that James Clapper's lying to Congress was more damaging than anything Ed Snowden did.

“That Clapper is lying to Congress is probably more injurious to our intelligent capabilities than anything Snowden did,” Paul said on CNN. “Clapper has damaged the credibility of the entire intelligence apparatus and I’m not sure what to believe anymore when they come to Congress.”

So, how did King respond to this statement from someone in his own party? He went ballistic. He claimed that Senator Paul "disgraced his office" by calling out Clapper for lying to Congress.

"He disgraced his office and he owes Gen. Clapper an apology immediately."

Huh? Clapper himself has flat out admitted that he lied. Pete King appears to be telling everyone that it's okay to lie to Congress. Yes, the same guy who wants to prosecute journalists.

In all of this, I think there are a few people who have "disgraced his office," but Rand Paul is not one of them.

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Filed Under: disgrace, james clapper, lying, nsa, nsa surveillance, peter king, rand paul

23 Comments

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ltlw0lf (profile), 20 Dec 2013 @ 12:45pm

Top stories for 11 o'clock news
Senator who lied to Congress calls to exonerate director who lied to Congress...and penalize the senators who seek the truth. News at 11...

I could also point to the old joke..."How can you tell a Senator is lying? His mouth is moving," but there are some senators out there that actually are honest. Not many.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Dec 2013 @ 1:45pm

how the hell do these people ever get elected into public offices? the lack of sense is unbelievable!
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Mike Brown (profile), 20 Dec 2013 @ 1:55pm

Re:
Thankfully House of Reps serve a fairly short two year term. There's a faint glimmer of hope that New Yorkers will remember stuff like this and tick someone else's box next time.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Dec 2013 @ 1:57pm

Instead of apologizing, Rand Paul should just say he lied when he made that statement. Then he can get away with it without repercussion.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Dec 2013 @ 2:05pm

Dude is evil as fuck. There is a lot of people mad that their Evil got exposed. Snowden is more honest and more of a human being than the entire Congress ever will hope to be.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Dec 2013 @ 2:06pm

I wonder what difference between those people and the Indian government officials trying to defend a human trafficking Indian diplomat?

They are all the same no matter what country.
They make me sick.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Dec 2013 @ 2:14pm

You know you're in a bizarre world when your moral barometer aligns with Rand Paul's.
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Rapnel (profile), 20 Dec 2013 @ 2:23pm

Oh, OK
This is me giving zero fucks about Representative [SIC] Peter King.

ALL ENEMIES, FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC

And their apologist, authoritarian fucks too.

And this guy *wants* to be POTUS. Yeah, good luck with that one, jackass.
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Daniel Joseph Calvanese, 20 Dec 2013 @ 2:32pm

Peter King is my representative and I swear to Christ that most of the people here are just like him.

PLEASE ENJOY A PART OF LONG ISLAND FROM AFAR.

CNN IS NEWS HERE.

UP IS DOWN. QUESTIONS? I INVOKE 9/11.

hope that answers how he's been in congress since I was in elementary school.
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pixelpusher220 (profile), 20 Dec 2013 @ 2:49pm

Re:
Indeed. Rand Paul may not be the one disgracing his office...in this very specific instance.

He's disgraced it many many many times before and I have faith he'll continue to do so.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Dec 2013 @ 3:00pm

Peter King. I have become convinced that the guy doesn't understand Peter King. He is just spouting non-sense.

A good advice for him: Think about what you say cause you may find that the constituents do not support what you say. Not even in New York does his level of non-sense make sense!
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Dec 2013 @ 3:36pm

Re:
Q: "how the hell do these people ever get elected into public offices?"

A: Low voter turnout

And with voter turnout below 40% the "winner", who gets barely 21% of registered voters, declares they have received a mandate - this is beyond stupid, this is douche bag territory. Representative government my ass.
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Nastybutler77 (profile), 20 Dec 2013 @ 4:36pm

Re:
I have never donated to a polititian's campaign before, but even though I live in a different district/state, I will be donating money to whoever is running against Peter King in the next election. And, might I add, I have never voted for/supported a Democrat.
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That One Guy (profile), 20 Dec 2013 @ 5:28pm

That explains it
Well, now we know who exactly it is that keeps coming into the comment section claiming that Clapper 'didn't lie' or he was 'backed into a corner by that dastardly Wyden'...
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Anonymouse Coward, 20 Dec 2013 @ 6:19pm

Is Peter King off of his meds again?

There ought to be a law that congress critters have to
take their anti-psychotics.
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Anonymous, 21 Dec 2013 @ 11:54am

King Peterpuffer is a disgrace. James Crapper is a disgrace. CONgress is a disgrace.
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Anonymous Coward, 21 Dec 2013 @ 12:08pm

Re: That explains it
Probably should add a few"hops" of associatings to that list, ask nsa, they know how that works
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Anonymous Coward, 21 Dec 2013 @ 12:18pm

Mr. King's choice of words was not "optimal" (much like Phil), but the sentiment behind his comments is not without merit. I saw at least two of Mr. Paul's interviews, and because of my familiarity with this matter it quickly became apparent that Mr. Paul's understanding of the relevant facts was significantly incomplete. While Mr. Paul's concern about the NSA given recent revelations is certainly understandable, his comments concerning Mr. Clapper are quite flawed. For example, he never mentioned that the public hearing at which this matter arose was preceded by prior classified meetings at which the question was posed and answered. Since Mr. Clapper apparently provides accurate answers to question involving classified information at classified meetings, one is shooting from the hip generalizing that testimony by Mr. Clapper to Congress cannot be trusted.

As for the comment re Snowden and Clapper, at least Clapper attempted to honor his obligations respecting classified information, whereas Snowden did quite the opposite...serving as a one man arbiter about what needed to be disclosed. It is disappointing that Mr. Paul does not appear to recognize the distinction.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Dec 2013 @ 9:01pm

Re:
Clapper is a lier and a Traitor who needs to be sent to jail for a very long time.

You state that the question was previously posed and answered. Was it the least truthfull answer there as well, or did he just flat out lie there as well?

Snowden for President.

America, land of the controlled, home of the Cowards
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Dec 2013 @ 6:02am

"Was it the least truthfull answer there as well, or did he just flat out lie there as well?"

There has not been a single statement, suggestion, complaint,or other characterization that Mr. Clapper was not truthful when briefing the committee in the classified setting where the matter was discussed. The issue here arose only because Mr. Wyden chose to use a public setting in an attempt to force public disclosure of classified information. BTW, the classified information Mr. Wyden attempted to force into the public was that a broad data gathering program in fact existed and was being practiced. Separate and apart from the existence of the program (the existence of which was what Mr. Clapper was asked to confirm) were the particulars of what the program comprised. The existence of the program and its particulars at the time were classified.

I have criticized Mr. Wyden because he attempted to use a public setting to try and force a third party to disclose classified information, placing that person in a position of conflicting legal obligations that in either case have associated criminal sanctions). I have not criticized him for his concern about what he learned in private and the opinion he formed about what he learned, i.e., in his opinion what was being done under the program raised significant legal concerns that needed to be publicly disclosed. I have, however, criticized him for not pursuing avenues available to him (e.g., introduce legislation that did not disclose the program's existence and scope that if passed would have effectively truncated the program to the extent it was "off the reservation", or perhaps even attempt to rely upon Congressional immunity concerning statements made on the floor of the House and Senate while they are in session).
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DannyB (profile), 23 Dec 2013 @ 7:45am

Disgraceful!
It's not disgraceful to lie to congress.
It's disgraceful to call them out for lying and demand that they be prosecuted just like anyone else for lying to congress.
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Dec 2013 @ 9:28am

Re:
Peter King is representation of our broken election system. He is more likely an alcoholic (like his lookalike Joe McCarthy), and masturbates to online gay porn at nite.
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Seegras (profile), 24 Dec 2013 @ 6:37am

Re:
So? Who classified this information? The same guys that violated the constitution? Why should anyone respect their classification when they only try to hide their crimes behind it?
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