Hmm: GOP Senators Snuck a Provision Into the Shutdown Deal Granting Them the Right to Sue Over "Arctic Frost" Invasions of Privacy/Weaponization of Government

The GOP did something sneaky that is not at the direct expense of their voters?

What is going on? What madness is this?

Some may say they engaged in self-dealing here, but I think there's plenty of positive public policy here. We need the Deep State exposed, and moreover, exposed to legal process.

Sue. Sue like the wind.

A new provision was quietly inserted into Congress's shutdown deal as part of a broader appropriations bill late Monday, giving lawmakers the right to sue the federal government over the FBI's "Arctic Frost" surveillance campaign that targeted Republican senators and conservative organizations.

Under the new language, senators whose phone records were seized during Special Counsel Jack Smith's probe into the 2020 election can take the government to court -- and claim at least $500,000 per violation. The move comes after revelations that Smith's team, operating under former President Joe Biden's Justice Department, subpoenaed cellphone metadata belonging to GOP senators between January 4 and 7, 2021, as part of the so-called "Arctic Frost" investigation.

"It's designed to put real teeth into federal law that prohibits the executive branch from surveilling the Senate," Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) told the Daily Caller News Foundation. "Arctic Frost was a grotesque abuse of power. It was Joe Biden's Watergate." Cruz added that the measure is "a common sense provision to ensure that no Department of Justice -- Democrat or Republican -- ever does that again."

Cruz, who said last month that AT&T refused to hand over his records but was barred from notifying him due to a court order, is among several senators whose data were secretly subpoenaed. Judge James Boasberg, then chief judge of the D.C. District Court, approved the nondisclosure orders that kept lawmakers in the dark. The new provision would now make such secrecy illegal, requiring service providers to immediately alert a Senate office if its data is requested by federal authorities.

Notably, the measure applies retroactively to 2022, meaning those affected by Smith's subpoenas can pursue damages.

...

Democrats, however, were quick to protest the late addition. "I'm shocked that a huge change in policy would be dropped into a bill at the last minute, and the first that most senators learn about it is in the press," Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) complained. "That's not lawmaking at a way that representatives can be informed."

Of course.

I know the GOP is supposed to be "against lawsuits" but here's how that's worked out in actual reality: The left writes every law to grant a private right of lawsuit to vindicate left-wing fake "rights," and the right never responds in kind.

Meaning the real policy is: Liberals can sue for everything, conservatives can sue for nothing.

If we're going to be sued for everything, then I want the reciprocal right to sue for everything myself.

"Sue everybody!" as noted Legal Whiner Saul Rosenberg advises.

And speaking of Ted Cruz --

and speaking of "Judge" Boasberg --

and speaking of impeachable behavior by left-wing rogue "judges" --

Ted Cruz has scheduled impeachment hearings for "rogue judges," including "Judge" Boasberg, who illegally ordered phone companies to not alert the victims of an illegal search that their records were being illegally searched.

Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action and Federal Rights Chairman Ted Cruz on Monday scheduled a hearing on the possibility of impeaching "rogue" federal judges.

The hearing comes after Republicans complained that some judges have intervened with President Donald Trump's executive orders. Several lawmakers have introduced legislation this year that seeks to curb rogue judges, after multiple judges issued nationwide injunctions on some of Trump's agenda, instead of focusing on the people in the specific case.

Yeah I know "nothing will happen" but at some point you just need to start taking shots on goal.

I'm making no factual assertions,
but this is the face of a man who volunteers
to coach youth soccer because he's a fan
of energetic ball-play

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) asked Attorney General Pam Bondi Thursday to unseal some "grand jury materials" from the FBI's Arctic Frost probe that would reveal special counsel Jack Smith's reasoning for seeking her and other Republicans' personal phone records.

Smith obtained call logs for at least 10 GOP lawmakers -- including Blackburn -- and the Tennessee senator wrote to Bondi requesting her "to use every tool ... to uncover a key component of the weaponized, Biden-era Arctic Frost investigation," according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Post.

That "key component" is an application for a non-disclosure order signed by DC US District Chief Judge James Boasberg, forcing phone carriers keep secret for one year Smith's subpoenas for the documents, which included the Republicans' addresses, inbound/outbound call and text records, and payment information.

"It is our understanding that this application is currently under seal in the Arctic Frost grand jury materials," Blackburn said. "We urge you to immediately unseal and provide this application that accompanied the gag order."

Boasberg has been a thorn in the side of the Trump administration's immigration policies after he issued a court order blocking deportation flights of alleged gang members to a Salvadoran mega-prison in March.

posted by Ace at 05:26 PM

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