Turns Out New Senate Intelligence Boss Was Simply Full Of It In Claiming Feinstein Couldn't Distribute The CIA Torture Report
from the off-to-a-great-start dept
The new head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Richard Burr, has long been known as a staunch defender of anything the CIA/NSA decide to do. That's why we still find it odd that he's now in charge of overseeing them, a job that was created to try to prevent their abuses. In the past, Burr has even argued that all hearings by the committee should be held in secret, to prevent any information from ever getting out. So, perhaps it wasn't that surprising when he kicked off his new role by claiming that his predecessor, Senator Dianne Feinstein, had somehow broken all sorts of protocol in actually distributing copies of the committee's 6000+ page report on the CIA's torture program and how the CIA lied to Congress about it. Burr was demanding all the copies back, while supposedly acting furious that it had been distributed. He claimed that it "was not a valid disclosure" and that it was done without approval.As part of that complaint, he went to the Senate Parliamentarian (basically the referee who makes the calls on all the arcane and sometimes ridiculous rules of the Senate), asking for a determination that Feinstein had violated the rules in distributing the report. Instead, he got the opposite. The Parliamentarian has noted that Feinstein did nothing wrong in distributing the report.
The Senate Parliamentarian has vindicated former Senate Intelligence Committee chair Dianne Feinstein against charges that the California Democrat violated committee rules by sending the full, classified version of her panel’s torture report out to the executive branch.Apparently, Burr isn't giving up, but in typical Burr fashion, he says he's going to keep what he does next a secret:
“There’s nothing there. They’re taking no action,” Feinstein told HuffPost Tuesday.
“We’ll proceed to whatever the next step is gonna be,” Burr said Tuesday. “I think there will be a next step, but it probably won’t be a public one.”That's not particularly comforting.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: cia, cia torture report, dianne feinstein, richard burr, senate, senate intelligence committee
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Basic rule of politics:
'If you haven't done anything wrong...' may not be sound when it comes to the public, as the public does have an expectation of privacy, but when it's applied to those who are theoretically meant to be serving the public, it tends to be pretty accurate.
They are meant to serve the public, if they hide their actions, it's a pretty good indication that they are failing to do so, and know it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
How 'bout this very public step?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: How 'bout this very public step?
Only state and local elected are subject to recall, and AFAIK not all of them. Federal elected: NOPE! Not anywhere in the US Constitution.
(Yes, we can vote them out at the next election. Doesn't send the same message, though.)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Wee need that leaked in all its unredacted glory. There may be consequences but by now I believe too many rights have been curtailed and too many lives have been lost in this 'war on terror' or whatever justified tortures.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
The humor is that we'll have nobody to thank but Burr for that happening.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
That sounds more like suicide than a car accident. But he is probably still in deliberations.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
a small (maybe tiny) consolation
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Change is "good"
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
WTF is that supposed to even mean? Is he publicly threatening Feinstein with the full power of the CIA/NSA and implying they'll do something "in secret" to her?
Serious, what the actul F-?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
If I made the statement that I was gonna "deal" with somebody outside of the public eye I would face charges for terroristic theats.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Oh the irony...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Oh the irony...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
"...won’t be a public one.”
Shades of "Animal House"!
It sounds like Burr is threatening Feinstein with 'Double Secret Probation'
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Nor is it particularly surprising. He's pretty blatantly, "In your face!", stating that his intention is to run interference *for* the spies and torturers, and is further intent on attacking even a US senator who wants to inform US citizens of its government's illegalities. Feinstein should up the ante and ask the parliamentarian what exactly an oversight committee's job really is.
Burr's a traitor to his people and a toady for the usurpers, at best. A bullet would be too kind for his ilk. I'd cheer on a public lynching, though.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
One would think that Burr was working for the CIA rather than for the people who elected him to the Senate.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
That's because he does work for the CIA and NSA, or at least seems to think so. He did not want the position he now holds to provide oversight to the intelligence agencies, he wanted it so he could prevent oversight.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The right creep for the job
He is willing to lie and cheat and steal and murder and do whatever it takes to get his employers off the hook.
Do you know how hard it is to find a man who is willing to lie daily in front of millions of people and simply shrug it off the next day when the lie is exposed.
There simply are not that many men on earth with that kind of total lack of integrity, or that massive amount of disdain for the American People.
I'll bet ye his pay-grade is classified Top Secret, or else they're paying him off by secretly shipping bullion to his off-shore vaults, because he has to be either incredibly expensive, or a completely evil an inhuman creature to do this job willingly.
Perhaps he just hates Americans.... Burr isn't a German name is it?
---
[ link to this | view in chronology ]