BARBARA COMSTOCK STATEMENT REGARDING "NIGHTLINE" WEBSITE CLAIM

“Since the days immediately after 9/11, the Attorney General has pledged repeatedly to use every lawful tool at our disposal to protect innocent Americans from future terrorist attacks. Imagine our surprise, then, when we read on ABC’s ‘Nightline’ website last night the following promotion for their September 4, 2003 show on the USA PATRIOT Act: ‘Imagine a nation where police can search your home without a court order or a warrant. Don’t look too far, it’s already here.’

“Perhaps the ‘Nightline show should have been tagged, ‘Name that law.’ Could they be referring to the USA PATRIOT Act? What law allows this? Having never heard of such a law, Justice Department lawyers quickly consulted the books to see what ‘Nightline’ was referencing. But we came away empty-handed. We couldn’t find it in the USA PATRIOT Act. We couldn’t find it in the revised FBI investigative guidelines. We couldn’t find it in the laws that pre-date the war on terror. And we certainly couldn’t find it in the Constitution.

“We hope ‘Nightline’ will either support this claim or issue a retraction.”

###

03-489