Patriot Act

Tea Partiers Help ACLU, House Dems Stop Patriot Act Renewal

Susan Crabtree and Ryan J. Reilly | February 9, 2011, 9:27AM

The American Civil Liberties Union's Michelle Richardson didn't know where things stood ahead of the House's vote expended certain provisions of the PATRIOT Act last night.

"I have no special inside knowledge on how this is going to shake down, but we're certainly going to be watching it closely," she told TPM ahead of the Tuesday night vote.

The big mystery was how the Tea Party-backed members would break on the first national security vote in the new Congress -- and whether the libertarian leanings of members from the right could align with concerns about government overreach on the left. Richardson said they'd be "seeing if the small government beliefs that have been espoused also apply in the national security context."

In the end, 26 Republicans broke with their leadership to oppose the bill, which still gained a majority of votes (227 to 148) but didn't pass.

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Topics: ACLU, Civil Rights, Civil liberties, Patriot Act, Ron Paul, Tea Parties

Michael Scanlon

Abramoff Whistleblower Wants Stiffer Sentence for Scanlon Than Feds Requested

Susan Crabtree and Ryan J. Reilly | February 9, 2011, 8:00AM

Native American lobbyist Tom Rodgers, the main whistleblower in the Jack Abramoff scandal, isn't satisfied with the government's request for two years in jail for Michael Scanlon.

Scanlon, a central figure in the Abramoff lobbying scandal, faces sentencing Friday, and Rodgers wants the judge to hand down at least the same amount of prison time Abramoff received.

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Topics: Coushatta, Jack Abramoff, Justice Department, Louisiana, Michael Scanlon, Native Americans, Texas, Tom Rodgers, Whistleblower, Whistleblowers