Director of National Intelligence Lied To Congress

He the Director of National Intelligence, but I don't think that lying to Congress is a very intelligent idea. Plus, it's against the law.

Steve Benen at The Carpetbagger Report wrote about it:

When the Director of National Intelligence lies to the Senate

On Monday, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on recent changes to the FISA law, which the Bush administration has insisted were necessary to keep Americans safe. In defending the law, McConnell seems to have lied to the Senate. Badly.

Steve Benen links to the Newsweek article about McConnell's violation of the law and public trust:

Spy Master Admits Error

In a new embarrassment for the Bush administration top spymaster, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell is withdrawing an assertion he made to Congress this week that a recently passed electronic-surveillance law helped U.S. authorities foil a major terror plot in Germany.

Benen also asks some good questions:

[...]At this point, I have a few questions. First, how does anyone expect lawmakers to negotiate policy matters with the White House in good faith when administration officials lie with impunity? Second, will there be any consequences for McConnell in light of these revelations?

And third, isn’t it against the law to lie to Congress?

To answer his last question, yes, it is against the law to lie to Congress. However, there never seems to be any consequences for breaking that law. So there seems to be no reason to stop lying to Congress.

Alberto Gonzales lied just about everytime he spoke before Congress. Gen. Petraeus lied to Congress earlier this week. Karl Rove just skips the whole process by refusing to go in the first place. It doesn't make a difference. The results are the same: no consequences.

Congress needs to start acting like an equal branch of government and put a stop to this. I know it's a cliche, but the Democrats need to grow a spine. (At least, more of them need to grow a spine. There are some tough Democrats like Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), et cetera. We need more like them.) Democrats need to stop giving their milk money to the White House bullies, and stand up for our country, our Constitution, and all Americans. That's why we voted them into power. Now, it's time for them to keep their end of the bargain and use that power.