Mr. Cover Up. For those who haven't been paying close attention to the chair of the Senate Intelligence committee, the NYT argues today that Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan) is a White House toady. And this related Post piece on some legislation Roberts is considering reintroducing? It's worth remembering its fine pedigree. Originally proposed by Roberts' predessor Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) in 2001, the anti-leak legislation had an interesting coda, when it was determined that Shelby himself was the one who leaked highly classified NSA intercepts to the media, according to several reports. (See Washington Post, "Investigators Conclude Shelby Leaked Message.") Glass houses, and all that. Maybe Roberts would do better to prepare an internal memo to his Republican colleagues, and see if he can't get it leaked to Fox News.

Update: The NYT reports Saturday that Roberts may be changing his mind on whether the NSA warrantless domestic spying needs to be brought in line with FISA.

Posted by Laura at February 17, 2006 12:13 AM