Can someone help me understand...

I didn't see today's talk shows, but in reading stories on Yahoo, I see that it has been reported that leaders on both sides (e.g., including Pelosi and Reid) were "briefed" previously about the possibly illegal surveillance of citizens.

Is this true? If so, why didn't they raise holy hell about it at the time? Did they believe it truly was a security issue? Of course, their reasoning was not reported in the articles I read, so that's why I'm hoping someone else knows.

of their positions, they took an additional oath to NOT SAY A WORD about super secret crap, even if it was unconstitutional. That puts them in a beautiful catch 22.
they know that Bush is breaking the law, but their own oaths on that committee prevent them from telling anyone.
how's that for milk and cookies, when it comes to our nation's health?

since he told them, it must be ok.

on edit--thanks for the info.

and have enough material to blackmail them.

Notice how few critics of the junta actually hold their ground?

Ol J. Edgar kept files on everybody. Seems unlikely the practice ever stopped.

told about the spying?

Or did I misunderstand that?

as the ones involved checktheir records etc.

Pelosi said she did object.

But the point is well taken that they are bound by the classified status of the criminal behavior not to talk about it.

This is the article that prompted my OP. It mentions Graham but doesn't claim that he was informed about the spying in advance.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051219/ap_on_go_co/domestic_spying


Administration officials said congressional leaders had been briefed regularly on the program. Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., said there were no objections raised by lawmakers who were told about it.

snip

Reid acknowledged he had been briefed on the four-year-old domestic spy program "a couple months ago" but insisted the administration bears full responsibility. Reid became Democratic leader in January.

"The president can't pass the buck on this one. This is his program," Reid said on "Fox News Sunday." "He's commander in chief. But commander in chief does not trump the Bill of Rights."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement Saturday that she had been told on several occasions about unspecified activities by the NSA. Pelosi said she expressed strong concerns at the time.