Secret Session Fails to Sway Democrats

Last night, House lawmakers were called into a rare secret session, something the chamber hadn’t done in 25 years. The move was initiated by Republican leaders, who claimed to have confidential data revealing the importance of granting the phone companies retroactive immunity for their cooperation in the administration’s warrantless wiretapping program. But whatever they had was no smoking gun.

At 13 minutes past midnight, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) released a statement indicating that Democrats would continue to push their own version of the wiretapping bill, which fails to offer the telecom immunity requested by the White House.

I did not hear any new information tonight that dissuades me from my very strong belief that the FISA bill House Democrats have produced – and which the House will vote on tomorrow – is a reasonable, thoughtful, appropriate piece of legislation that will ensure that the intelligence community has all the tools it needs to protect our nation, while also respecting the Constitutional protections that Americans rightfully feel are so important.  Tomorrow, I will urge members on both sides of the aisle to vote for this legislation.

That vote is slated to happen early this afternoon. More on this as events evolve.