Two U.S. Congressmen from Colorado drew attention today over
campaign contributions and their votes on retroactive immunity for
companies that helped the government tap phone calls and computer lines
after 9/11.
Watchdog group maplight.org listed the lawmakers who’ve received
campaign contributions from telecommunications companies and who also changed
their position on the retroactive immunity.
Rep. John Salazar, a Manassa Democrat, received $6,000 from
telecommunication company political action committees between January
2005 and March 2008, according to maplight.org. The group looked at
contributions from Verizon, AT&T and Sprint.
Rep. Ed Perlmutter, a Golden Democrat, received $1,000 of political
action committee money from those companies over the same time
frame.
The lawmakers last week voted for legislation amending the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, known as FISA. The bill
establishes new electronic surveillance rules and effectively shielded
telecommunications companies that helped the government eavesdrop.
The president had threatened to veto any bill that failed to shield the companies. The legislation passed 293-129.
Salazar and Perlmutter drew attention from maplight.com, as did 92 other House Democrats, because in March they had voted in favor of FISA reauthorization that did not grant retroactive immunity to the communications companies. That bill could never be married up to a Senate bill over the immunity issue.
Salazar's spokesman couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Perlmutter took the contribution in November 2007, before any of the FISA votes, said his spokeswoman Leslie Oliver. He voted against approving FISA three previous times, with each of those bills treating the telecommunications companies differently.
"He's got a very long history dating back to his days in the state legislature, he's worked with all the telecom companies, both for and against them, Oliver said.
"There's nothing there,'' she added.
Rep. Mark Udall, an Eldorado Springs Democrat, also was on the list for voting against immunity and then for immunity. He, however, did not have any campaign contributions from the companies.