* Glen Greenwald’s 1-2 punch scoop publicizing blanket capture of Verizon phone records, and the NSA’s Prism program to collect data from customers of American technology firms, has a 3rd shot: his source, Edward Snowden, stepped forward voluntarily. After a successful mass-casualty terrorist attack in Boston despite all of these measures, the Attorney-General authorizing wide-ranging surveillance of reporters, and revelations that the IRS has used its own massive powers to systematically persecute the Obama administration’s political opponents, the “NSA files” story has the public’s attention.
* Something you may not have heard so much about. In 2008, NSA intercept operators told ABC News that they routinely and deliberately eavesdropped on phone sex between troops serving overseas and their loved ones in America. Congress did nothing.
* So far, reactions on Capitol Hill haven’t crystalized. Today will be a big day for in-secret hearings, but Politico is predicting no major changes to legislation. Rep. Mike Rogers’ [R-MI] Intelligence Reauthorization bill may become a bigger flashpoint in the next few weeks. With that said, when you’ve lost the co-author of the Patriot Act, it’s a warning sign. People with some gray hairs and memory might recall something known as the Church Committee.
* Booz Allen Hamilton was predictably unhappy with Snowden’s leak, though they were perfectly happy with what he was working on. Google? Their CEO claims they didn’t know about Prism. The DNI defends it.
* Sen. Feinstein [D-CA] actually went so far as to describe Snowden’s revelations as “treason”, and was joined in this opinion by Sen. Bill Nelson [R-FL]. To say Snowden broke laws is one thing, but using the word “treason” says that execution is an appropriate response to revealing blanket government surveillance of all Americans. Hmm.
* These are not wholly new revelations. The Atlantic reminds us just how far-reaching the DNI’s domestic efforts are. WIRED covered the NSA’s Bluffdale, UT center and its “Stellar Wind” program of total electronic surveillance in March 2012, and whistleblower William Binney was a co-founder of NSA’s Signals Intelligence Automation Research Center with decades of experience. They add important background to these stories.
* Government Executive has an article titled “The Surveillance State: How We Got Here.”
* The impact of the NSA Files will be felt beyond the USA. Australia, Britain, Canada, and New Zealand have all cooperated closely with the agency, and some have parallel agencies of their own (Britain’s GCHQ, Canadian CSE). As NSA’s brand becomes “internal surveillance of domestic populations,” leaders abroad will need to deal with hard questions about the extent of NSA’s reach, the prospect of similar programs in their own countries, and domestic reactions to continued cooperation. It’s already beginning.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t finish with Glen Greenwald’s interview of Edward Snowden, as Snowden explains what he worked on, what he saw, and what caused him to abandon his girlfriend, high-paying job, and home. Here’s the video below:
