Bush Feared Successor Might Revoke Telco Spy Immunity

The George W. Bush administration expressed concern future administrations might not use the legal amnesty it wanted to give the nation’s telecommunication companies that were being sued for assisting the president’s warrantless, electronic wiretapping program, according to internal documents released Thursday. The documents, unearthed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation via a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, also suggest the administration was wary it might first have to concede that the telcos were complicit in the alleged dragnet surveillance to garner congressional support for the amnesty bill. The legislation, passed in July 2008, killed the EFF’s federal civil rights lawsuit against the companies. Ultimately, Congress approved legislation granting immunity to the telcos without any admission of guilt — provided the attorney general requested the power on their behalf. In July 2008, President Bush signed the package, which was endorsed by then-Sen. Barack Obama...read more