[Effaustin-discuss] Senator Feinstein, the document leaker

[dan at geer.org]

[effaustin cross-posting allowed to stand, but will likely get a bounce]

U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 6, reads

  The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for
  their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the
  Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except
  Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest
  during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses,
  and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech
  or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any
  other Place.


The "Speech or Debate" clause is central here.  Sen. Feinstein
made her accusations on the floor of the Senate. In the Washington
style, her accusations are a declaration of war.  The first effect
will be that she no longer gets information feeds from the Agencies,
which is to say from the Executive Branch.  That is a big deal;
recall that when asked about what a President Obama would mean to
the country's policies, soon-to-be-ex-President Bush said "He'll
be fine as soon as he's reading what I'm reading."

--dan