In recent days, Defense of Democracies, a group I head, began running ads calling on the House Democratic leadership to allow a vote on a bill that passed the Senate with a strong bipartisan majority. The bill would give America’s intelligence agencies the freedom they need — and used to have — to spy on foreign terrorist suspects communicating with each other outside the United States.

Andy McCarthy has written about this issue extensively, both on NRO and in the dead-tree edition. (For example here and here.) And I wrote about it here.

The ads have incited lefty bloggers to attack us – almost entirely with name calling and the usual vitriol to which we have by now all become accustomed. So I was, in a way, pleased that FactCheck.org, a group headed by former CNN correspondent Brooks Jackson, decided to engage us in a real debate.

Viveca Novak, a former Time correspondent (who co-authored a book alleging abuses at Guantanamo) and now works for FactCheck.org, accuses us here of fear-mongering, “making false claims” and “twisting facts.” OK, those are the liberal Democratic talking points on this issue. But at least she attempted to flesh out the charges a bit.

Unfortunately for her, Andy has fact-checked her fact-check here.

Read it. You make the call. I don’t think it’s even close. I do think retired journalists need to be cautious when they take on retired prosecutors on legal issues. But kudos to FactCheck.com for posting Andy’s responses.