Clapper: 'What we don't do is spy
unlawfully on Americans'
By Brendan Sasso - 10/29/13 07:10 PM ET
Top national security officials insisted
to lawmakers on Tuesday that U.S.
surveillance is already subject to strict oversight and that analysts are
careful to protect privacy.
In testimony before the House Intelligence
Committee, the head of the National Security Agency
and President Obama’s director of national intelligence sought to calm both
international leaders and members of Congress outraged over reports of U.S.
spying.
"What we don't do is to spy
unlawfully on Americans — or for that matter spy indiscriminately on citizens
of any country," Director of National
Intelligence James Clapper said.
The hearing of the House Intelligence
Committee came with the NSA becoming increasingly isolated and with lawmakers
drawing up plans for curbing the agency's surveillance power.
During the hearing, Clapper and NSA
Director Keith Alexander argued there’s already
strong oversight.
Alexander testified that reports based on
leaks by Edward Snowden saying the NSA spied on
millions of phone calls in Europe are
"completely false."
”This is not information we collected on
European citizens,” Alexander said. "It represents information that we and
our NATO allies have collected in defense
of our countries and in support of military operations.”
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday
that intelligence agencies in France
and Spain
provided the NSA with the European phone call data.
But the intelligence officials were more
elusive when asked about reports that the NSA has spied on foreign leaders of
allied nations.
The leaks indicating that the NSA spied on
phone calls of foreign leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, have
prompted an international outcry.
Merkel told Obama in a phone call last
week that such breaches of privacy are “completely unacceptable.”
Even Senate Intelligence Committee
Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), typically a staunch supporter of the
NSA, has expressed outrage over the reports of spying on foreign leaders. She
said her panel will conduct a "total review."
At Tuesday's hearing, the intelligence
officials declined to discuss specific surveillance operations, but Clapper
said that trying to determine the "leadership intentions" of foreign
nations has long been a core objective of intelligence agencies.
"It's one of the first things I
learned in intel school in 1963," Clapper said. He added that allies are
"absolutely" trying to spy on U.S. leaders.
It remains unclear how much President
Obama knew of the surveillance of allied leaders and when he knew it.
Clapper said the White House is aware of
the parameters of surveillance operations and that the agencies inform the
president of important intelligence details that they collect. But he said the
NSA does not always inform the White House of individual targets.
Lawmakers clashed over whether the
intelligence officials had informed them of the surveillance of foreign
leaders.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) scolded the
officials for hiding such a critical policy decision, but Chairman Mike Rogers
(R-Mich.) argued that the committee already has extensive access to details of
the surveillance programs.
"I would argue that to make the case
that we are somehow in the dark is mystifying," Rogers said, while declining to confirm any
specific intelligence activities.
Rogers, one of the most vocal defenders of
the NSA on Capitol Hill, is preparing a bill that would increase transparency
and oversight but ratify the core of the NSA's spying powers. Feinstein is
moving similar legislation through the Senate Intelligence Committee.
But the NSA's defenders are heading
towards a showdown with critics, who introduced their own bill Tuesday to
dramatically curb the agency's power.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the chairman
of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), the
original author of the USA Patriot Act, introduced the USA Freedom Act Tuesday
to end the NSA's bulk collection of U.S. phone records.
The program, which gives the NSA access to
phone numbers, call times and call durations on all U.S. phone calls, is one of
the most controversial revelations from the leaks by Edward Snowden.
The bipartisan bill already has 16
co-sponsors in the Senate and more than 70 in the House.
In a statement, Sensenbrenner said the
Patriot Act has helped keep Americans safe, but that "somewhere along the
way, the balance between security and privacy was lost."
"It’s now time for the Judiciary
committees to again come together in a bipartisan fashion to ensure the law is
properly interpreted, past abuses are not repeated and American liberties are
protected," he said.
In a lightly veiled shot at Feinstein and Rogers, Leahy argued, "modest
transparency and oversight provisions are not enough."
A Leahy aide said the Senate Judiciary
Committee is planning a hearing on the legislation.
Although Feinstein is launching an
investigation of the NSA's spying on foreign leaders, she is still a vocal
supported of its bulk collection of U.S. phone records.
"The database program is public
information, just a phone number and the time of the call,” Feinstein told The
Hill Tuesday. “And it’s under court supervision. It’s been reviewed extensively
by us."
James Clapper
James
R. Clapper is the director at the Office of the Director of
National Intelligence for the Barack Obama
administration, and was an executive director, military intelligence
programs for Booz Allen Hamilton.
Note: Booz Allen
Hamilton is a contractor for the National Security Agency
(NSA).
Edward
Snowden leaked information about the National Security Agency
(NSA), and an employee at Booz Allen Hamilton.
Robert
S. Osborne is the EVP & general counsel for Booz Allen
Hamilton, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Commercial Club of Chicago, Members Directory
Please note: This link for the members of
the Commercial Club of Chicago can no longer be found.
R. Eden
Martin is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle
Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack Obama
was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.
Newton N.
Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP,
and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Cyrus
F. Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution
(think tank).
Richard C.
Blum is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution
(think tank), and married to Senator Dianne
Feinstein.
Ivo H.
Daalder was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution
(think tank), and is the U.S. permanent representative for NATO.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings
Institution (think tank), and the Aspen
Institute (think tank).
Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation was a funder for the Brookings
Institution (think tank), and the Aspen
Institute (think tank).
William
H. Gates III is a co-chair for the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, and a co-founder & chairman for the Microsoft Corporation.
National
Security Agency (NSA) was a
grant recipient from the Microsoft Corporation.
Paul F.
Anderson is a trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank), and was a senior partner at Booz Allen Hamilton.
James S.
Crown is a trustee at the Aspen Institute
(think tank), and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
Lester Crown
was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute
(think tank), and is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Robert
S. Osborne is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and the EVP & general counsel for Booz Allen Hamilton.
Edward
Snowden an employee at Booz Allen Hamilton,
and leaked information about the National Security Agency
(NSA).
Booz
Allen Hamilton is a contractor for the National Security Agency
(NSA).
James
R. Clapper was an executive director, military intelligence programs for Booz Allen Hamilton, and is the director at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for the Barack Obama administration.
Keith
B. Alexander is a director at the National Security Agency
(NSA), and a friend of Barbara G. Fast.
Barbara
G. Fast is a friend of Keith B. Alexander,
and was a VP for the CGI Group Inc.
CGI
Group Inc. was the Obamacare
contractor that developed Healthcare.gov web
site.
No comments:
Post a Comment