Update: Dodd Blocks Telecom Immunity

Senator Chris Dodd vowed to put a hold on any bill that gives telecoms retroactive immunity for helping intelligence agencies carry out warrantless surveillance of Americans. Immunity for the telecoms has been strenuously lobbied for by much of the industry and supported by the White House.

From Dodd's website:

The Military Commissions Act. Warrantless wiretapping. Shredding of Habeas Corpus. Torture. Extraordinary Rendition. Secret Prisons. No more.

I have decided to place a "hold" on the latest FISA bill that would have included amnesty for telecommunications companies that enabled the President's assault on the Constitution by illegally providing personal information on their customers without judicial authorization.

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This move will make Dodd vulnerable to a great deal of criticism from the right and will likely not ingratiate him to the Democratic leadership, which seems determined not to challenge the White House on security measures even if they erode civil liberties.

Dodd, a presidential candidate, has been hailed for this courageous move on liberal blogs, which may aid his standing in the Democratic primaries. Progressives have been furious that the rule of law could be retroactively waived and that the Bush administration would be insulated from future scrutiny on the matter of warrantless wiretapping by removing the possibility of investigating the telecoms. Dodd has been polling near the bottom of the Democratic field.

The hold probably won't stop the bill forever. For a breakdown of how the hold maneuver Dodd is using works, we must go to Kargo X from Daily Kos.

Senator Barack Obama has also come out against immunity.

UPDATE: Dodd has just let it be known that if Reid attempts to bring the bill to the floor, he will filibuster. Watch.