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Watchdog: What Ever Happened to the Civil Liberties Board?
By Michael Isikoff
03/06/06 "Newsweek"
-- -- March 13, 2006 issue - For more than a
year, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board has been the
most invisible office in the White House. Created by Congress in
December 2004 as a result of the recommendations of the 9/11
Commission, the board has never hired a staff or even held a
meeting.
NEWSWEEK has learned, that this is due to finally change when the
board's five members are slated to be sworn in at the White House
and convene their first session. Board members tell NEWSWEEK the
panel intends to immediately tackle contentious issues like the
president's domestic wiretapping program, the Patriot Act and
Pentagon data mining. But critics are furious the process has taken
this long—and question whether the White House intends to treat the
panel as anything more than window dressing. The delay is
"outrageous, considering how long its been since the bill [creating
the board] was passed," said Thomas Kean, who chaired the 9/11
Commission. "The administration was never interested in this."
Renewed concerns about the White House's commitment came just a few
weeks ago when President Bush's new budget was released—with no
listing for money for the civil liberties board. Alex Conant, a
spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget, denied to
NEWSWEEK the White House was trying to kill the panel by starving it
of funds. "It will be fully funded," he said, explaining that the
board wasn't in the budget this year because officials decided not
to itemize funding levels for particular offices within the White
House. When a reporter pointed out that funding for other White
House offices such as the National Security Council were listed in
the budget, Conant said: "I have no explanation."
The funding snafu is only the latest setback. Kean said the 9/11
Commission had pushed hard for the board to ensure that some agency
within the government would specifically review potential abuses at
a time vastly expanded powers were being given to U.S. intel and
law-enforcement agencies. But the White House, and congressional
leaders, resisted and sharply restricted its scope, denying the
board basic tools like subpoena power. Bush didn't nominate members
of the board until June 2005—six months after the panel was
created—and they weren't confirmed until last month. The chair of
the board is Carol Dinkins, a former senior Justice official under
Ronald Reagan and former law partner of Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales. Dinkins did not respond to requests for comment.
© 2006 Newsweek, Inc.
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