Jay Rockefeller made a big show of demanding to see the secret documents authorizing warrantless wiretapping before he would consider granting immunity to the telecoms and to the Administration.

Then, he ceded his chairmanship to Kit Bond, who "negotiated" a "compromise" with the Administration. The "compromise" was that the Administration would let some member of Rockefeller's (oops, I mean Bond's) committee see the secret documents only after Bond had crafted (and Rockefeller has consented to) a bill to grant immunity to the telecoms and to the Administration.

This is the sort of thing that leads some observers of Jay Rockefeller to refer to him as "Jello Jay".

http://nytimes.com/2007/10/20/us/nationalspecial3/20nsa.html

[...] Last June, in a phone conversation with Vice President Dick Cheney, John D. Rockefeller IV, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, set down his conditions for revising the law governing the National Security Agency’s eavesdropping. Only when the committee got access to secret administration documents authorizing surveillance without court warrants, Mr. Rockefeller told the vice president, would it consider such legislation.

[...] The bill is a long way from becoming law. The House Intelligence Committee, and the Judiciary Committees of both the Senate and the House, have not been allowed to see the secret documents: President Bush’s orders authorizing the program, and Justice Department opinions laying out its legal basis. And White House officials are being coy about whether those committees will get access.

Dana Perino, the White House press secretary, said Friday that the Senate Intelligence Committee had gained access to the documents only after its leaders had indicated that they would grant immunity to the phone and Internet companies.

“To the extent of anyone else being able to see the documents,” Ms. Perino said, “I think that we’ll wait and see who else is willing to include that provision in the bill.”

[...] The White House negotiated the bill primarily through Christopher S. Bond of Missouri, the leading Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee and a staunch ally in efforts to broaden the N.S.A.’s wiretapping authority. Officials said that while Mr. Rockefeller had had some direct dealings with the director of national intelligence, Mike McConnell, and other administration officials, it was Mr. Bond who had acted as the main liaison to the White House on the issue. [...]

- - New York Times 10/20/2007

The more convinced that what's motivating Reid and Rockefeller more than anything is a simple desire for this whole issue to go away. As was mentioned upthread, they were probably briefed on the NSA program early in its run and didn't object when they had the chance. Now it would seem that EFF vs ATT is in a position to uncover the whole termite nest and they'd rather that didn't happen.

The confidence they feel over the prospect of a Dem ending up in the White House is probably firming up their resolve even more. After all, if the big prize is theirs anyway, why risk any more chips?

I think the only way to defeat this is to pledge to not vote for any Democratic candidate in the presidential election if the Senate passes telecom immunity and blanket warrants. Also, lobby your friends to vote a third party or not at all. I think we'll have enough people to give Republicans the crucial advantage in November. The Democrats will then have another four years to meditate on where they want to position themselves. Oh, and we need to call the leadership and the Democratic campaigns today to let them know that we are prepared to make them lose these crucial three percent.

Last spring, the three members of Vermont's Washington delegation -- Senators Pat Leahy and Bernie Sanders, and Congressman Peter Welch -- stood together when the Vermont state senate voted to impeach Bush and asked Vermonters to have patience. There were ongoing investigations, and we must let these investigations continue, they said.

“People are expressing broad outrage about this president’s handling of the war, his treatment of civil liberties, and the use of bogus intelligence, and there is a lot of common ground here on holding the president and vice president accountable. The major question is the best way to make that happen.”

Welch said the current investigations on everything from the war to the firing of U.S. attorneys are potentially the beginning of further action, not the end. He said the current probes into the Bush administration are akin to the congressional investigations into the Nixon administration.

“Those investigations weren’t the end, but the beginning of the end and brought out the facts that led to articles of impeachment,” said Welch. “It didn’t begin with filing articles of impeachment. My fundamental concern is ending this war.”

Democrats need to use these investigations as a way to chip away at Bush’s support in the GOP, and convince Republicans that the administration needs to be held accountable, Welch said. (From the Vermont Guardian website.)

Now, Leahy is working with Harry Reid to push through this bill with retroactive immunity for the telecommunications, thereby undermining the very investigations that we Vermonters were promised. That's how craven and irresponsible this Democratic Congress has become. Unlike the days of Nixon, when the Democrats actually had a backbone, this Congress will do anything to appease George Bush and their own corporate sponsors. What a disgrace.

This is assuredly about the power of money in politics. But it's my feeling it also reveals how much both party establishments want to shut the door on any investigation into the precise nature and extent of the illegality of the Bush administration. There is so much we do not know, and so much we have a right to know. Nancy ("Impeachement is off the table") Pelosi, Harry Reid, Rahm Emmanuel, et al do not want to do their duty to investigate and hold other politicians accountable for their crimes. (Think of the precedent that sets!)

Or maybe they think investigating the Bush administration is a loser politically, (another myth they appear to believe), or, more likely, they fear some sort of exacerbation of the already extreme political polarization in this country, leading to -- God forbid -- some sort of civil unrest? (The latter would be the most generous view.)

At any rate, the American people are again the losers, as our political leaders pursue their only real agenda -- remaining in power, whatever the damage to our democracy and the rule of law.