Agency says it would “further violate” everyone’s privacy if it wasn’t a secret

Steve Watson
Infowars.com
June 18, 2012


The National Security Agency has refused to provide details on its clandestine domestic spying program, as requested by two prominent Senators, suggesting that to do so would violate the privacy of Americans.

Last month Senators Ron Wyden and Mark Udall of the intelligence oversight committee once again asked the NSA to divulge how many innocent Americans have had their communications monitored under the expanded Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, counterterrorism powers put into place four years ago.

The expansion of powers in 2008 eliminated the need for the NSA to have probable cause to intercept any American’s phone calls, text messages or emails.

Now Wired Magazine blog DangerRoom has acquired a letter (PDF) from the Inspector General of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which notes that “NSA leadership agreed that an IG review of the sort suggested would further violate the privacy of U.S. persons.”

The letter, written by I. Charles McCullough, also claims that the NSA, which has as many employees as the FBI and the CIA combined, does not have the man power to collate and reveal such details, and that to attempt to do so would jeopardize the program.

“I defer to [the NSA inspector general's] conclusion that obtaining such an estimate was beyond the capacity of his office and dedicating sufficient additional resources would likely impede the NSA’s mission,” McCullough wrote.

Senator Wyden responded with a statement Monday, noting “All that Senator Udall and I are asking for is a ballpark estimate of how many Americans have been monitored under this law, and it is disappointing that the Inspectors General cannot provide it.

“If no one will even estimate how many Americans have had their communications collected under this law then it is all the more important that Congress act to close the ‘back door searches’ loophole, to keep the government from searching for Americans’ phone calls and emails without a warrant,” Wyden added.

Describing the NSA’s response as “disappointing and unsatisfactory,” Legal secrecy expert Steve Aftergood, of the Federation of American Scientists, believes it is unacceptable for any intelligence agency to refuse to address such an “entirely legitimate oversight question.”

“If the FISA Amendments Act is not susceptible to oversight in this way,” Aftergood said, “it should be repealed, not renewed.”

Last year, the NSA tacitly admitted that it has an active domestic spying program when the general counsel testified to a Senate hearing, overseen by Wyden and Udall, that he believes the agency has the authority to track Americans via cell phones.

“There are certain circumstances where that authority may exist,” said Matthew Olsen the Director of The National Counterterrorism Center.

Wyden and Udall have been pressing the NSA for some time to reveal whether or not the agency is collecting sensitive data on Americans such as cell site data, which would allow for tracking the location of anyone using a cell phone in the US.

Along with Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R., Utah), Wyden introduced a joint bill last year that would force any government agency to secure a search warrant and show probable cause before tracking the location of any American.

Wyden has consistently expressed concern that the law relating to surveillance is unclear, and is being “secretly interpreted by the executive branch.”

Last week, Wyden blocked the Senate from a unanimous consent vote on a bill that would extend the FISA for a further five years. He was the only Senator to take action against the proposal, which was secretly approved for a floor vote last month, and would have otherwise passed through a virtually empty Senate chamber without objection.

In his statement, Wyden said he objects to the extension of the law because it does not contain protections against warrantless “back door” searches of Americans.

“I believe that there should be clear rules prohibiting the government from searching through these communications in an effort to find the phone calls or emails of a particular American, unless the government has obtained a warrant or emergency authorization permitting surveillance of that American,” he said.

As a candidate for president in 2008, Barack Obama promised to revisit and revise the rules of FISA to protect Americans’ rights, after he had voted for the bill as a Senator. However, as president, Obama has continued where president Bush left off in calling for extending the legislation and even actively preventing any judicial oversight of the wiretapping program.

The FISA provision, introduced in 2008, was merely a confirmation of activity that government spy agencies, including the NSA, have been engaging in for years.

The ACLU recently released an infographic (below) detailing  how the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program has grown in gargantuan proportions and now intercepts 1.7 billion US electronic communications every single day. Those communications will soon all be funneled through the top secret $2 billion spy center in the Utah desert, which the NSA has refused to provide Congress with details of.

The surveillance dragnet just got a hell of a lot bigger, and rest assured that while the government says its official targets are “terrorists,” snoops are using these powers to go after Americans exercising their constitutional rights.

Mass Government Surveillance Dragnet Goes Into Overdrive nsa infographic

—————————————————————-

Steve Watson is the London based writer and editor for Alex Jones’ Infowars.net, and Prisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham in England.

  1. NSA Found Improperly Spying on Americans
  2. Is the US government spying on Americans?
  3. Spying on Americans: The FBI’s “Quantico Circuit” — Still Spying, S...
  4. NSA Admits It Tracks Americans Via Cell Phones
  5. Oregon Senator Reveals Secret Government Surveillance Grid
  6. Obama Installs New Guidelines To Aid Spying On Innocent Americans
  7. Obama Pushes For Renewal Of Warrantless Spying On Americans
  8. Obama Administration’s “Secret Law” to Spy on Americans
  9. House Approves Amendment To Limit Pentagon Drones Spying On Americans
  10. NSA Analyst: Spying Far More Widespread than Previously Believed
  11. In the Wake of 9/11: 33 of 50 States Are Actively Spying on Americans
  12. NSA Spying and the Shredding of the Constitution

Views: 51

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

NSA Spying and the Shredding of the Constitution

Why people don't see anything wrong with their government spying on them is beyond me...

RSS

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

Less Prone favorited Burbia's video
8 hours ago
Less Prone replied to Burbia's discussion Trump Receives Marching Orders
"Bullets can be effective in reinforcing ownership."
9 hours ago
Burbia posted a discussion

Trump Receives Marching Orders

Netanyahu has made 3 visits to the White house since Trump's second term as President of the United…See More
15 hours ago
Burbia commented on Burbia's video
Thumbnail

Ben Shapiro Just LOST HIS MIND — There's No Coming Back From This

"Omg. The Ben Shapiro voice that Luke is imitating here couldn't be any more comedic to…"
23 hours ago
Burbia posted a video

Ben Shapiro Just LOST HIS MIND — There's No Coming Back From This

Get the magnesium your body needs - https://wearechange.shop/product/magnesium-glycinate/Ben Shapiro Just LOST HIS MIND — There's No Coming Back From ThisHig...
yesterday
cheeki kea posted photos
yesterday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Monday
Burbia posted a video

A few reasons I don’t like jews. It’s not complicated.

These are the reasons I became antisemitic. It’s not complicated. Sure, I could go on for days, weeks, months outlining everything, but I don’t need to. This...
Monday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post Unusual Discoveries and Headlines
"Less Prone, Thanks Buddy! I'd like to volunteer as a historical reconstructionist! "
Sunday
Less Prone left a comment for t.me/TheIntelligenceLibrary
"Welcome to a revolutionary concept in public communication, the truth."
Sunday
pohonemas33 team is now a member of 12160 Social Network
Sunday
Less Prone favorited cheeki kea's discussion Tartaria
Sunday
tjdavis's 2 blog posts were featured
Sunday
Doc Vega's 7 blog posts were featured
Sunday
Less Prone commented on Doc Vega's blog post Unusual Discoveries and Headlines
"Some incredible pieces of history!"
Sunday
Less Prone favorited Doc Vega's blog post Unusual Discoveries and Headlines
Sunday
tjdavis posted a blog post
Sunday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

First Week of July 1947 an Inflexion Point for Humanity!

The year is 1947 and sometime around July 4th the anniversary of the birth our nation, when a…See More
Saturday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post Government Issued Wearables? What’s Wrong With this Picture?
"cheeki kea Ha! Good one!"
Friday
tjdavis posted a video

This is Paris Now… You Won’t See This in the Tourist Brochures

In this video, I take you through Marché Barbès and its surrounding neighbourhoods — an area that reflects the modern, complex face of Paris most tourists ne...
Friday

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted