We Salute You Mike Gravel - Mark Udall, Not So Much

Article 1, Section 6 of the Constitution establishes an absolute free-speech right for members of Congress on the floor or in committee, even if they are disclosing classified material.

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Within hours of Colorado Senator Mark Udall losing his reelection bid last week, transparency activists were talking about how he should go out with a bang and put the Senate intelligence committee’s torture report into the congressional record.

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The last time any senator did anything nearly so grand was in 1971, when Mike Gravel, two years into his 12 years representing the state of Alaska, entered 4,000 pages of the Pentagon Papers into the congressional record just before the U.S. Supreme Court lifted an injunction on publishing them in the press.

Now, Gravel is urging Udall to join the club.

”If Udall wants to call me, I can explain this to him,” Gravel, pictured above, said in a phone interview from his home in Burlingame, Calif.

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“If Udall wanted to do this, he could do the same thing.” Gravel said. “Hell, I’d fly into Washington and help him pass it out.”

If it’s more convenient, Gravel said, he’ll be in Udall’s home state of Colorado in a couple weeks. “If he wants to, we can get together over Thanksgiving weekend, and talk this thing out so he feels comfortable.”

  Dan Froomkin: The Intercept

Yeah, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to. It would be nice if he surprised me.

The specific rules of Udall’s Armed Services Committee state: “Hearings may be initiated only by the specified authorization of the Committee or subcommittee.” Presumably the subcommittee chairman’s authorization would be sufficient — but Armed Services Committee lawyers refused to interpret that for me.

I bet they did.

Should Udall not want to go the late-night stealth subcommittee route, he could also strap himself up with a colostomy bag and take to the Senate floor.

Gravel did.

 

And have a listen to Gravel today talking about government secrecy and power, and the need to empower citizens, but first get them out of civic adolescence.  (You can ignore the title.)

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.



But...if the title intrigues you...

Just don't hold Mike responsible for the last half of the video.