Pelosi’s Wiretap Offensive

For the next 9/11 Commission, we nominate the first witness:  Silvestre Reyes, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. He’s the man now telling everyone … there’s nothing to worry about, after his fellow Democrats last week scuttled a bipartisan compromise on warrantless wiretapping of al Qaeda.

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Nearly every other professional says that Friday night’s expiration of the wiretap law will do significant security harm.

[D]irector of National Intelligence Michael McConnell on Fox News Sunday: “If something new comes along, we have to have a directive for a new private sector company — now that’s in question. So [the expiration of the law] introduces a level of uncertainty that is going to be very difficult for us.”

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We asked one phone company executive what he’d do, after Friday’s expiration, in response to a government request for cooperation. His answer was blunt: “I’m not doing it. If I don’t have compulsion, I can’t get out of court [and those lawsuits] … I’m not going to do something voluntarily.” Having talked to telecom executives, we can tell you this view is well-nigh universal.

Mr. Reyes claims that existing wiretap orders can stay in place for a year. But that doesn’t account for new targets … A telecom CEO who cooperates without a court order is all but guaranteed to get not merely a wiretap lawsuit, but also a shareholder suit 

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Our guess is that Mr. Reyes knows all of this, but is trying to provide cover for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who decided last week to block the bipartisan bill that had already passed the Senate 68-29. The bill also has majority backing in the House, with 21 Democrats having publicly pledged support and another 20 or so privately on board. Ms. Pelosi tried to dodge the issue by passing another short-term extension of wiretap authority, but opposition was so strong that the GOP defeated her on the House floor.

What we have here is a remarkable display of the anti-antiterror minority at work. Democrats could vote directly to restrict wiretapping by the executive branch, but they lack the votes. So instead they’re trying to do it through the backdoor by unleashing the trial bar to punish the telephone companies.

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