If you look at the reports, even the disclosures that Mr. Snowden’s put forward, all the stories that have been written, what you’re not reading about is the government actually abusing these programs and, you know, listening in on people’s phone calls or inappropriately reading people’s e-mails.Much more at the link.
What you’re hearing about is the prospect that these could be abused. Now part of the reason they’re not abused is because they’re — these checks are in place, and those abuses would be against the law and would be against the orders of the FISC [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court].
Today our colleague Barton Gellman released new documents that contradicted Obama’s claims.
It turns out that the NSA did abuse its authority, it hid its abuses from the FISA court, and that court doesn’t even have the resources to oversee the NSA adequately and investigate allegations of wrongdoing. It even literally did listen in on phone calls.
The FISC is forced to rely upon the accuracy of the information that is provided to the Court [...] The FISC does not have the capacity to investigate issues of noncompliance, and in that respect the FISC is in the same position as any other court when it comes to enforcing [government] compliance with its orders.Fox, henhouse.
h/t Instapundit
http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2013/08/15/wapo-bombshell-when-obama-said-nsa-wasnt-actually-abusing-its-powers-he-was-wrong/
WaPo
Court: Ability to police U.S. spying program limited
The leader of the secret court that is supposed to provide critical oversight of the government’s vast spying programs said that its ability to do so is limited and that it must trust the government to report when it improperly spies on Americans.
The chief judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court said the court lacks the tools to independently verify how often the government’s surveillance breaks the court’s rules that aim to protect Americans’ privacy. Without taking drastic steps, it also cannot check the veracity of the government’s assertions that the violations its staff members report are unintentional mistakes.
Read the documents
NSA report on privacy violations
Read the full report with key sections highlighted and annotated by the reporter.
FISA court finds illegal surveillance
The only known details of a 2011 ruling that found the NSA was using illegal methods to collect and handle the communications of American citizens.
What's a 'violation'?
View a slide used in a training course for NSA intelligence collectors and analysts.
What to say (and what not to say)
How NSA analysts explain their targeting decisions without giving "extraneous information" to overseers.
More on this story:
NSA broke privacy rules thousands of times, audit finds
Agency also has overstepped legal authority since Congress gave it broad new power in 2008.
NSA statements to The Post
The National Security Agency offered these comments on The Post’s story on privacy violations.
Leahy to hold hearing on NSA privacy violations
Lawmakers on Friday were quick to express their dismay over the latest surveillanc
“The FISC is forced to rely upon the accuracy of the information that is provided to the Court,” its chief, U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton, said in a written statement to The Washington Post. “The FISC does not have the capacity to investigate issues of noncompliance, and in that respect the FISC is in the same position as any other court when it comes to enforcing [government] compliance with its orders.”
Walton’s comments came in response to internal government records obtained by The Post showing that National Security Agency staff members in Washington overstepped their authority on spy programs thousands of times per year. The records also show that the number of violations has been on the rise.
The court’s description of its practical limitations contrasts with repeated assurances from the Obama administration and intelligence agency leaders that the court provides central checks and balances on the government’s broad spying efforts. They have said that Americans should feel comfortable that the secret intelligence court provides robust oversight of government surveillance and protects their privacy from rogue intrusions.
President Obama and other government leaders have emphasized the court’s oversight role in the wake of revelations this year that the government is vacuuming up “metadata” on Americans’ telephone and Internet communications.
“We also have federal judges that we’ve put in place who are not subject to political pressure,” Obama said at a news conference in June. “They’ve got lifetime tenure as federal judges, and they’re empowered tolook over our shoulder at the executive branch to make sure that these programs aren’t being abused.”
Privacy advocates and others in government have voiced concerns about the ability of overseers to police secret programs of immense legal and technological complexity. Several members of the House and Senate intelligence committees told The Post last week that they face numerous obstacles and constraints in questioning spy agency officials about their work.
In 2009, for example, a Justice Department review uncovered a major operational glitch that had led to a series of significant violations of the court’s order and notified the court, according to records that were declassified July 31 by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
The government described the problem as one of “over-
collection” of metadata records for U.S. phone calls.
collection” of metadata records for U.S. phone calls.
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