Rep. Jim McDermott calls wiretap ruling against him a “victory for the First Amendment”

File this under “he said what?” Via The Hill:

A federal judge has ruled that Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) can collect more than $1 million in legal fees in a lawsuit against Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) over a taped phone call, the Associated Press reports.

Boehner had sued McDermott for leaking a tape of a 1996 call featuring Republican congressmen discussing an ethics case against then-Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.).

McDermott told The Hill that he is raising money to pay the penalty through a legal defense fund.

“I’ve been raising money the last few years” McDermott said. “We’re a little bit short but we’ll get there.”

“Despite the adverse ruling, McDermott proclaimed victory.

“We won because we protected the First Amendment” he said. “We told the American people what was going on in Congress.”

Uh, yeah right. He thinks it’s ok to wiretap his political enemies, but as far as wiretapping suspected terrorists and their allies? Well, Bush should be censured for that.

Too bad your buddy Saddam isn’t around any more to help you pay the tab, eh, Rep. McDermott?