Government Eavesdropping // Current

The Shadow Factory

James Bamsford's new book on the NSA. The Bush administration’s wiretapping program has come under new scrutiny this... more

CaptSutter
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U.S. probes claims officials eavesdropped on calls

The National Security Agency said on Thursday it was investigating allegations that intelligence officials listened to personal phone calls from military officers, journalists and other Americans living outside the United States.

The comments followed media reports that U.S. agents intercepted calls from U.S. citizens using satellite phones to call friends and relatives back home even though they were clearly not terrorism suspects.

"Some of these allegations have been investigated and found to be unsubstantiated. Others are in the investigation process," the agency said in a statement.

The allegations, reported by ABC News earlier on Thursday, were made by two former military linguists who said calls from Americans, including aid workers, were monitored as part of the Bush administration's controversial surveillance program.

Intelligence operators routinely shared details with each other from the intercepted calls, especially those including intimate conversations, one linguist told ABC.

Administration officials have said the program is used narrowly to protect the country against possible attack, but human rights groups and others say it threatens citizens' privacy.

Congress allowed the program to continue earlier this year, giving authorities the power to eavesdrop on people outside the United States without a court order, while including rules aimed at minimizing such surveillance.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller said his panel would examine the allegations and requested related information from the White House.

"There are strict procedures in place governing intelligence surveillance when it involves U.S. persons. The Committee will take whatever action is necessary to ensure those rules are followed and any violations are addressed," the West Virginia Democrat said.

Opponents of the program said the allegations showed the rules were inadequate.

"Today's report is an indictment not only of the Bush administration, but of all of those political leaders, Democratic and Republican, who have been saying that the executive branch can be trusted with surveillance powers that are essentially unchecked," said Jameel Jaffer, head of the American Civil Liberties Union's National Security Project.The National Security Agency said on Thursday it was investigating allegations that intelligence officials listened to personal... more

TravG73
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1 month ago

Inside Account of US Eavesdropping on Americans

Published on Thursday, October 9, 2008 by ABC News Inside Account of US Eavesdropping on Americans U.S. Officers'... more

SeaJade
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1 month ago

Cheney sued over wiretapping

In addition to its current wiretap lawsuit against AT&T (which the government is trying to dismiss), the EFF has filed suit against Cheney, Gonzales, and a host of others.

By suing the government directly, the EFF is attempting to undermine the government's plan to use a new power handed to it by Congress in July. The so-called telecom immunity provision nearly automatically forces a judge to dismiss lawsuits against companies accused of helping the government spy -- without court approval -- on the phone and internet communications of Americans.

Last week, the government told a federal court judge overseeing some 38 cases against the telecoms that it would file those papers on AT&T's behalf by Friday.

Thursday's potential class action suit against the government -- filed in federal district court in Northern California -- seeks a halt to the program, an accounting of who was spied on and damages for the five named plaintiffs.

It also names high government officials -– in their official and personal capacities -- putting them at risk of fines they would be personally liable for.

Among those listed – former Attorney General John Ashcroft, former Attorney General and White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, Vice President Dick Cheney, and Cheney's chief of staff David Addington, along with current and former heads of intelligence agencies involved in the spying.

"In addition to suing AT&T, we've now opened a second front in the battle to stop the NSA's illegal surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans and hold personally responsible those who authorized or participated in the spying program," said senior staff attorney Kevin Bankston.

The suit argues the spying violated federal wiretap law, the First Amendment's guarantee of anonymous speech and the Fourth Amendment's guarantee against unreasonable searches.

Others have challenged the government program directly, but no one has succeeded so far. The EFF hopes the whistle-blower evidence it has used to keep the AT&T case alive will also work to prove it has a right to sue the feds as well.

The EFF plans to contest the legality of the so-called telecom immunity powers -- but wants to have another avenue to pursue its goal of having the program declared illegal.

Though the full extent of the secret spying is not known, media reports indicate the government collected phone calls and emails – with the help of American telecoms -- where one party was inside the U.S. and one was outside the country.

Until recently, wiretapping law required court orders to collect that information inside the U.S.

The FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which largely legalized did not immunize the government or government officials.In addition to its current wiretap lawsuit against AT&T (which the government is trying to dismiss), the EFF has filed suit... more