Rockefeller Gives It Another Shot

It looks like several telecommunications companies have a part in writing a law to grant themselves immunity. Sen. Rockefeller (D-WV), who has received plenty of money from the telecommunications industry, is once again complying. As former constitutional litigator Glenn Greenwald observes, "Their strategy is to craft a bill that they can pretend is something short of amnesty for telecoms but which, in every meaningful respect, ensures an end to the telecom lawsuits." If nothing else, Rockefeller is persistent in his attempts to grant amnesty to those who knowingly violated our surveillance laws.

Jay Rockefeller and Telecom Immunity

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) is apparently leading the Senate Intelligence Committee to grant retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies, such as AT&T and Verizon, regarding their involvement in the NSA's warrantless wiretapping activities. These graphs seem particularly telling:





The compact version:
AT&T Contributions to Rockefeller
January 2001 - February 2007: $300
March 2007: $19,350

Verizon Contributions to Rockefeller
January 2001 - March 2007: $3,750
April 2007 - June 2007: $23,500

More at Wired and The New York Times.