*** WE ARE ALL ONE
Patriot Act Author Prepares Bill to Put NSA Bulk Collection ‘Out of Business’ as Edward Snowden Wins ‘Integrity in Intelligence’ Award
Jim Sensenbrenner told the Guardian: ‘The disclosure that NSA employees were spying on their spouses … was very chilling.’ Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Stephen: As the man who risked his life and fled his homeland to expose the NSA for what it was doing by spying on the world, Edward Snowden, is awarded the Sam Adams Award for Integrity in Intelligence (see separate stories below) the man who wrote the Patriot Act sees the light and steps into a new role.
The conservative Republican who co-authored America’s Patriot Act is preparing to unveil bipartisan legislation that would dramatically curtail the domestic surveillance powers it gives to intelligence agencies.
Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner, who worked with president George W Bush to give more power to US intelligence agencies after the September 11 terrorist attacks, said the intelligence community had misused those powers by collecting telephone records on all Americans, and claimed it was time “to put their metadata program out of business”.
His imminent bill in the House of Representatives is expected to be matched by a similar proposal from Senate judiciary committee chair Patrick Leahy, a Democrat. It pulls together existing congressional efforts to reform the National Security Agency in the wake of disclosures by whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Sensenbrenner has called his bill the Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ending Eavesdropping, Dragnet-Collection, and Online Monitoring Act – or USA Freedom Act, and a draft seen by the Guardian has four broad aims.
It seeks to limit the collection of phone records to known terrorist suspects; to end “secret laws” by making courts disclose surveillance policies; to create a special court advocate to represent privacy interests; and to allow companies to disclose how many requests for users’ information they receive from the USA. The bill also tightens up language governing overseas surveillance to remove a loophole which it has been abused to target internet and email activities of Americans.
Many lawmakers have agreed that some new legislation is required in the wake of the collapse in public trust that followed Snowden’s disclosures, which revealed how the NSA was collecting bulk records of all US phone calls in order to sift out potential terrorist targets.
In July, a temporary measure to defund the NSA bulk collection programme was narrowly defeated in a 217 to 205 vote in the House, but Sensenbrenner said the appetite for greater privacy protections had only grown since.
“Opinions have hardened with the revelations over the summer, particularly the inspector general’s report that there were thousands of violations of regulations, and the disclosure that NSA employees were spying on their spouses or significant others, which was very chilling,” he told the Guardian in an interview.
Instead, the main opposition to Sensenbrenner and Leahy’s twin-pronged effort is likely to come from the chair of the Senate intelligence committee, Dianne Feinstein, who is supportive of the NSA but who has proposed separate legislation focusing on greater transparency and checks rather than an outright ban on bulk collection.Sensenbrenner and other reformers have been scathing of this rival legislative approach, calling it a “fig leaf” and questioning the independence of the intelligence committee. “I do not want to see Congress pass a fig leaf because that would allow the NSA to say ‘Well, we’ve cleaned up our act’ until the next scandal breaks,” he said.
“[Party leaders] are going to have to review what kind of people they put on the intelligence committee. Oversight is as good as the desire of the chairman to do it.”
Sensenbrenner also called for the prosecution of Obama’s director of national intelligence, James Clapper, who admitted misleading the Senate intelligence committee about the extent of bulk collection of telephone records.
“Oversight only works when the agency that oversight is directed at tells the truth, and having Mr Clapper say he gave the least untruthful answer should, in my opinion, have resulted in a firing and a prosecution,” said the congressman.
Clapper has apologised for the incident, but reformers expect a fierce backlash to their proposals to rein in his powers in future. “I anticipate a big fight, and Senator Feinstein has already basically declared war,” said Sensenbrenner. “If they use a law like Senator Feinstein is proposing, it will just allow them to do business as usual with a little bit of a change in the optics.”
His twin effort with Leahy to introduce legislation via the House and Senate judiciary committees is partly intended to circumvent such opposition among intelligence committee leaders.
But there is plenty of support among other intelligence committee members. Democratic senators Ron Wyden and Mark Udall, who were first to seize on Snowden’s disclosures as a way to make public their longstanding concerns, recently teamed up with Republican Rand Paul and colleague Richard Blumenthal to propose similar reforms of the NSA in their own bill.
Sensenbrenner insisted the different reform efforts were likely to converge, rather than compete. “I wanted to get a bill passed, and the best way to get a bill passed is to have the chairman of the judiciary committee and the most senior US senator [Leahy] co-sponsoring it,” he said. “We need to change the law, and we need to change the law quickly.”
Publication of the House version of the USA Freedom bill, jointly sponsored by Democrat John Conyers, has been held up by the government shutdown, which has furloughed a number of congressional legal staff, but is still expected within the next few days.
A spokesman for Leahy’s office told the Guardian on Thursday that the senator was still on track to introduce his version of the legislation through the Senate judiciary committee once the shutdown effects had passed.
The main thrust of the bill would tighten section 215 of the Patriot Act to limit the collection of business records such as telephone metadata, to instances where the NSA was able to convince courts set up under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa) that the target was “an agent of a foreign power”, was “subject of an investigation” or thought to be “in contact with an agent of a foreign power”.
Sensenbrenner said this tighter definition was needed because previous language had been improperly interpreted by Fisa courts. “Having the three qualifications would make it very clear that they have to find out who a bad person is first, get the Fisa order, and then see who that bad person was contacting to get the information rather than find the needle in a very large haystack, which is what the metadata was,” he said.
“We had thought that the 2006 amendment, by putting the word ‘relevant’ in, was narrowing what the NSA could collect. Instead, the NSA convinced the Fisa court that the relevance clause was an expansive rather than contractive standard, and that’s what brought about the metadata collection, which amounts to trillions of phone calls.”
This approach has been justified by intelligence agencies as the only way to get enough data to allow them to sift through it looking for connections, but Sensebrenner claimed that NSA director general Keith Alexander only pointed to 13 possible suspicious individuals found through this method during his recent Senate testimony.
“The haystack approach missed the Boston marathon bombing, and that was after the Russians told us the Tsarnaev brothers were bad guys,” added Sensenbrenner.
Another important aspect to the bill, in the draft seen by the Guardian, is a set of measures that would prevent the NSA using other legal powers to carry on collecting bulk data – even if the Patriot Act language is tightened.
“The concern that I have had is that if the shoe starts pinching on what the NSA is doing, they will simply try to use another mechanism to try to get the metadata and national security letters is the one that would rise to the top,” said Sensenbrenner, who described ways to close this potential loophole.
“I have always had a lot of questions about administrative subpoenas such as national security letters, and the bill adds a sunset date for national security letters, which were originally authorised in 1986.”
Staff members have been holding discussions behind the scenes about how to make sure the NSA can continue to get access to individual phone records when they do have specific concerns about terrorism activity.
“We will have to figure out some kind of way for the NSA to get records, wether through a Fisa court order or a grand jury subpoena,” said Sensenbrenner.
This is likely to be opposed by the security services, who argued in recent congressional testimony that such a system would impose unacceptable delays in obtaining records.
By Dan Roberts in Washington, The Guardian – October 10, 2013
http://tinyurl.com/kztj4dh
==========================================================
Edward Snowden Wins Sam Adams Award
From Russia Today – October 10, 2013
PLEASE CLICK ON LINK BELOW TO WATCH 4MINUTE VIDEO:
Edward Snowden holds the Sam Adams award for integrity in intelligence, with (left to right) former US government officials Coleen Rowley and Thomas Drake, UK WikiLeaks journalist Sarah Harrison, and ex-US officials Jesselyn Raddack and Ray McGovern. Photograph: Sunshine Press/Getty Imag
Edward Snowden: First Photo Appears Since Russian Asylum Granted
The first verified photograph of Edward Snowden in Russia has appeared, showing the NSA whistleblower meeting four former US government officials who presented him with an award for “integrity in intelligence”.
The picture appeared hours after Snowden’s father landed in Moscow and said he hoped to visit his son, who has not been seen in public since he was granted asylum in Russia in August. Snowden, who leaked information about US surveillance programmes to the Guardian, was given the right to remain in Russia for a year after spending five weeks in limbo at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport over the summer. He is wanted in the US on espionage charges. Lon Snowden arrived at the same airport early on Thursday morning and was escorted through the VIP terminal by Anatoly Kucherena, his son’s lawyer.
“I am his father, I love my son and … I certainly hope I will have an opportunity to see my son,” said Lon Snowden in brief remarks to Russian television crews at the airport. “I am not sure my son will be returning to the US again,” he said. As of Thursday evening, the two had not met, but the elder Snowden told journalists he expected a meeting to take place soon. Kucherena said that other members of the Snowden family planned to visit Moscow in the near future.
Edward Snowden arrived in Moscow on a flight from Hong Kong in June and apparently intended to board an onward flight bound for Latin America. However, US authorities cancelled his passport and he remained stuck at the airport for five weeks, before Russia granted him political asylum.
On Thursday, Lon Snowden spoke of his “extreme gratitude that my son is safe and secure and he’s free”, and later thanked President Vladimir Putin and Kucherena during an interview with state-controlled Russian television.
Putin, himself a former KGB spy, does not have much sympathy for whistleblowers and has described Snowden as “a strange guy”, but said that Russia had no choice but to offer him asylum, provided the whistleblower agreed to stop his leaks. Lon Snowden said he understood his son had not been involved in the publication of new information since his arrival in Russia and was “simply trying to remain healthy and safe”.
Some have suggested it is likely that Snowden is being held under guard of the FSB, Russia’s security service, but the Russians have insisted that they have neither received, nor attempted to extract, any of Snowden’s secrets.
The four former US government officials who met Snowden said he was in good spirits and dismissed claims that he was in any way restricted by the Russian government. He was presented with the Sam Adams award for integrity in intelligence, which has been given yearly since 2002, when it was award to Coleen Rowley, the former FBI agent who before the 9/11 attacks denounced the agency’s failure to investigate suggestions that Islamist militants were targeting the US. In 2010, the award was given to Wikileaks and Julian Assange.
“He spoke very openly about a whole range of things, a number of which I won’t get into here, but it certainly didn’t involve any kind of manipulation by the Russian government or anyone else for that matter,” Jesselyn Radack, formerly of the US justice department and now with an organisation that protects whistleblowers, told the Associated Press. “He definitely is his own person and makes his own decisions and says and does what he wants to.” She and others present at the meeting refused to disclose where it had taken place.
By Shaun Walker in Moscow, The Guardian - October 10, 2013
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/10/edward-snowden-first-photo-russian-asylum
=====================================================
NSA Leaks: Brazilian Lawmakers Press Journalist for More Details of Snowden Revelations
Glenn Greenwald (R), American journalist who first published the documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, speaks with partner David Miranda as Greenwald testifies in front of the Brazilian Federal Senate’s Parliamentary Inquiry Committee, established to investigate allegations of spying by United States on Brazil, in Brasilia October 9, 2013 (Reuters / Ueslei Marcelino)
Brazilian lawmakers indicated that, in lieu of direct teleconferences with Edward Snowden to gain further insight into allegations of NSA spying in their country, they may seek to seize documents now held by American journalist Glenn Greenwald.
On Wednesday Greenwald spoke to Brazilian senators currently investigating evidence of US as well as British and Canadian espionage in the Latin American country.
The legislators are part of a probe into potential foreign surveillance — the Comissão Parlamentar de Inquérito, or CPI — called into action by President Dilma Rousseff in the wake of initial news reports alleging that even the president’s online communication had been intercepted.
Greenwald, who appeared along with his partner David Miranda, a Brazilian national, broached several topics during the hearing, including the possibility of granting asylum to NSA contractor turned whistleblower Edward Snowden.
So far, Brazil has been vague as to whether it would seriously consider extending Snowden, who is currently residing in Russia, an offer of political asylum.
“There are many nations saying, ‘We’re glad to be learning all this information,’ but almost nobody wants to protect the person responsible for letting the world discover it,” Greenwald told the panel.
In the meantime, Brazilian legislators seem eager to find out the extent of foreign surveillance on the country in greater detail.
To that end, the country’s government — specifically, the CPI inquiry — is now seeking to establish teleconferencing sessions with Snowden.
Asked by the commission to turn over documents obtained through the whistleblower Greenwald refused, citing the need for a separation between journalism and government. His partner, Miranda, also cited that divulging the documents would constitute an “act of treason” and prevent Greenwald from entering the US again.
One Brazilian Senator, Ricardo Ferraço, went so far as to suggest that the government commission seek the authority of the country’s courts to seize documents now held by Greenwald if such communication with Snowden proved unfeasible.
Unlike allegations of NSA surveillance in the US, coverage of the agency’s activities in Brazil have taken on a broader scope, and in particular centered on the country’s economy.
Greenwald himself has shaped the narrative of Snowden’s disclosures through his testimony to Brazil’s government, as well as his work with the O Globo newspaper and Rede Globo’s news television.
In August, the journalist told Brazil’s government that alleged American espionage in Brazil was centered on gaining economic advantages rather than on any national security concerns.
“We now have several denunciations that show that the spy program is not about terrorism. It is about increasing the power of the American government,” Greenwald told senators on Wednesday, speaking in Portuguese.
In the most recent report last Sunday, Greenwald said on Globo network television that Canadian spies had targeted Brazil’s Mines and Energy Ministry, intercepting the metadata of phone calls and emails passing through the ministry.
The impact of the steady stream of surveillance allegations on Brazil has been swift. Last month Petrobras announced that it would be investing $9.5 billion over the next five years to heighten its data security.
Meanwhile, Communications Minister Paulo Bernardo announced that the country’s government was pursuing legislation requiring domestic data exchanges to use locally made equipment.
From RT.com – October 10, 2013
http://rt.com/news/brazil-snowden-leaks-greenwald-959/
==========================================================================
Edward Snowden’s Father Arrives in Russia
Lon Snowden (right), the father of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, at Sheremetyevo airport, with lawyer Anatoly Kucherena. Photograph: AFP/Getty
Edward Snowden’s father landed in Moscow on Thursday morning and said he hoped to visit his son, who has not been seen in public since he was granted asylum in Russia in August.
The former NSA contractor, who leaked information about US surveillance programmes to the Guardian, was given the right to remain in Russia for a year after spending five weeks in limbo at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport over the summer.
Lon Snowden arrived at the same airport early on Thursday morning and was escorted through the VIP terminal by Anatoly Kucherena, his son’s lawyer. Kucherena has been the only channel to Snowden since the 30-year-old whistleblower left the airport, and has refused to give any details about his location, citing security concerns. Snowden is wanted in the US on espionage charges.
“I am his father, I love my son and … I certainly hope I will have an opportunity to see my son,” said Lon Snowden in brief remarks to Russian television crews at the airport. “I am not sure my son will be returning to the US again,” he said.
Edward Snowden arrived in Moscow on a flight from Hong Kong in June and apparently intended to board an onward flight bound for Latin America. However, US authorities cancelled his passport and he remained stuck at the airport for five weeks, before Russia granted him political asylum.
On Thursday, Lon Snowden spoke of his “extreme gratitude that my son is safe and secure and he’s free”, words that were run repeatedly during the morning on Russian news channels.
President Vladimir Putin, himself a former KGB spy, does not have much sympathy for whistleblowers and has described Snowden as “a strange guy”, but said that Russia had no choice but to offer him asylum.
Before Snowden was given asylum, Putin said that Russia would offer it only on the condition that the whistleblower stopped his leaks. Lon Snowden said on Thursday he understood his son had not been involved in the publication of new information since his arrival in Russia and is “simply trying to remain healthy and safe”.
Some have suggested it is likely that Snowden is being held under guard of the FSB, Russia’s security service, but the Russians have insisted that they have neither received, nor attempted to extract, any of Snowden’s secrets.
Kucherena has previously said that Snowden does have security, but declined to say whether it is provided by the Russian state or a private firm. He said that Snowden has been able to travel around Russia without being recognised and is busy reading books about the country’s history and learning the language.
The website Life News, which has close links to the Russian security services, published what it claimed was the first photo of Edward Snowden in Russia earlier this week, which showed a man resembling the former NSA contractor wheeling a supermarket trolley piled with plastic bags of shopping. There has been no confirmation that the photograph is genuine.
Kucherena said that Lon Snowden planned to hold a press conference “soon”, and added that other members of the Snowden family plan to visit Moscow in the near future.
By Shaun Walker in Moscow, The Guardian – October 10, 2013
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/10/edward-snowden-father-arrives-russia-moscow
No comments:
Post a Comment