Rebecca James in NSA | September 14, 2018

The History Of NSA Scandals Revealed

Here are the top stories which are covered on news media about NSA Scandals

Introduction: NSA Spying on Americans is Illegal

Introduction: Eavesdropping 101: What Can the NSA Do?

Legal Challenges and Analysis

Congressional Research Service report questioning legality of Bush Administration’s notification to Congress of NSA spying, January 18, 2006 (pdf)

“Congressional Agency Questions Legality of Wiretaps,” Washington Post, January 19, 2006.

“Two Groups Planning to Sue Over Federal Eavesdropping,” New York Times, January 17, 2006.

Letter to Congress from former government officials and law professors on NSA spying, January 9, 2006 (pdf)

“Nonpartisan report questions legality of eavesdropping, ” Knight Ridder, January 6, 2006

Morton Halperin, “A Legal Analysis of the NSA Warrantless Surveillance Program,” January 6, 2006.

“Report Rebuts Bush on Spying,” Washington Post, January 6, 2006

Congressional Research Service report finding lack of legal grounding for NSA spying, January 5, 2006 (pdf)

“Defense Lawyers in Terror Cases Plan Challenges Over Spy Efforts,” New York Times, December 28, 2005.

Congressional Notification & Investigation

“White House Briefing Intelligence Committees on NSA Spying,” Associated Press, February 9, 2006

“Senate Panel Rebuffed on Documents on U.S. Spying,” New York Times, February 2, 2006.

“Gonzales Is Challenged on Wiretaps,” Washington Post, February 1, 2006.

Letter from Sen. Russ Feingold to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on testimony during confirmation hearing, January 30, 2006 (pdf)

“White House Dismissed ’02 Surveillance Proposal,” Washington Post, January 26, 2006.

“Words, Deeds on Spying Differed: Even as warrentless U.S. eavesdropping was being conducted, the White House opposed easing rules on the issue in 2002 to avoid public debate.”Los Angeles Times, January 26, 2006.

Glenn Greenwald revealed on his blog on January 24 that the Administration refused to back a bill proposed by Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH) in 2002, which would have eliminated the “probable cause” barrier of FISA. This is the exact barrier it now claims necessitates circumvention of FISA.

“Secret Surveillance May Have Occurred Before Authorization,” Washington Post , January 4, 2006.

“Power We Didn’t Grant ,” December 2005 op-ed by former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle reporting that Senate explicitly denied president the authority to wage war domestically when passing resolution cited by Bush as authorization for spying.

October 2001 letter from Rep. Nancy Pelosi to then-NSA Director Michael V. Hayden on NSA Activities, with response (declassified, with redactions)

Letter from Sen. Jay Rockefeller to Vice President Cheney regarding briefing on domestic spying activities in 2003 (pdf)

Corporate Participation

Letter from Sen. Russ Feingold and Sen. Ted Kennedy to AT&T, Sprint Nextel and Verizon, February 9, 2006 (pdf).

“Telecoms Let NSA Spy on Calls,” USA Today, February 5, 2006.

“Lawsuit Targets AT&T Over Domestic Spying Program,” Los Angeles Times, February 1, 2006.

Administration Statements

Bush remarks on Illegal NSA spying in 2005 State of the Union speech (with commentary by Tim Grieve of Salon), February 1, 2006.

Transcript: President Bush’s speech to the NSA, January 25, 2006.

Transcript: Gonzalez Defends Survillance Program, January 24, 2006.

Transcript: President Defends Illegal NSA Program at Kansas State University January 23, 2006.

Gen. Michael V. Hayden remarks to the National Press Club, C-Span video clip, January 23, 2006; Transcript.

“Criminal Inquiry Opens into Spying Leak” New York Times, December 31, 2005.

“Cheney Defends Surveillance” New York Sun, December 21, 2005.

Transcript: Press Briefing by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and General Michael Hayden, Principal Deputy Director for National Intelligence, December 19, 2005.

Transcript: Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice defends spying on Fox News, December 18, 2005.

President Bush’s Radio Address, December 17, 2005.

FISA Court

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA): Text and Resources1

“Secret Court’s Judges Were Warned About NSA Spy Data,” Washington Post, February 9, 2006

“Judge Reportedly Resigns over US Spy Program,” New York Times, December 21, 2005.

GOP and Administration Objections

“Bush Faces Republican Revolt Over Spying,” Financial Times, February 9, 2006.

Statement by Congresswoman Heather Wilson (R-NM) on NSA Electronic Surveillance, February 8, 2006.

Letter from House Judiciary Committee to Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, February 8, 2006 (pdf)

“Palace Revolt,” Newsweek, February 6, 2006

“Justice Deputy Resisted Parts of Spy Program,” New York Times, January 1, 2006.

ACLU Documents

Introduction: Eavesdropping 101: What Can the NSA Do?

Introduction: NSA Spying on Americans is Illegal

The NSA’s Surveillance Octopus: map of likely NSA facilities (jpeg) — or pdf file (500k)

ACLU letter to the Attorney General calling for a special counsel

ACLU legal complaint in lawsuit over NSA spying (see also this fact sheet on legal claims)

ACLU feature page on NSA spying

ACLU Newspaper Ads: The President Lied to the American People and Broke the Law

ACLU Report: “The Surveillance-Industrial Complex”

ACLU Blog on Surveillance and the Patriot Act

Freedom of Information Act Requests on NSA Spying:

Key Investigative Pieces
(registration may be required for some sites)

“Surveillance Net Yields Few Suspects,” Washington Post, February 5, 2006

“Spy Agency Data After Sept. 11 Led F.B.I. to Dead Ends,” New York Times , January 17, 2006.

“Files Say Agency Initiated Growth of Spying Effort,” New York Times , January 4, 2006.

State of War: The Secret History of the C.I.A. and the Bush and Administration by James Risen (Free Press, January 3, 2006)

“NSA Gave Other U.S. Agencies Information From Surveillance,” Washington Post, January 1, 2006

“U.S. Spying Is Much Wider, Some Suspect,” Los Angeles Times, December 25, 2005.

“Spy Agency Mined Vast Data Trove, Officials Report,” New York Times, December 24, 2005.

“At Security Agency, News of Surveillance Program Gives Reassurances a Hollow Ring,” New York Times, December 22, 2005.

“Spying Program Snared US Calls,” New York Times, December 21, 2005.

“Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts,” New York Times, December 16, 2005.

Selected Opinion and Commentary
(registration may be required for some sites)

Al Gore, “Restoring the Rule of Law,” speech delivered in Washington DC, January 16, 2006 (text and video).

“Early Warning,” Washington Post columns by national security expert William W. Arkin

“Tinker, Tailor, Miner, Spy: Why the NSA’s snooping is unprecedented in scale and scope,” by Shane Harris and Tim Naftali, Slate, January 3, 2006.

“Spy Controversy, Redux,” column by Ruth Marcus. Washington Post, January 2, 2006.

“The NSA’s Overt Problem,” Washington Post, January 1, 2006.

“The Agency That Could Be Big Brother,” by reporter James Bamford, author of two books on the NSA, New York Times, December 25, 2005.

“So Much for Protecting Constitution,” Geoffrey Stone, University of Chicago Law Professor analyzes NSA spy program in the historical context of domestic spying in wartime. Chicago Tribune, December 21, 2005.

“No President is Above the Law” Speech by Sen. Robert Byrd, December 19, 2005.

“The Fog of False Choices,” New York Times editorial, December 20, 2005.

“…unlimited?” Former Reagan Administration official Bruce Fein calls Bush’s spying program “a clear and present danger to the rule of law.” Washington Times, December 20, 2005.

“Listening in and Naming Names: The old tricks of the NSA,” Slate, December 20, 2005.

“Uncle Sam is Listening,” by security technology expert Bruce Schneier, author of “Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World,” Salon, December 20, 2005.

“This Call May be Monitored,” New York Times editorial, December 18, 2005.

“Spying on Americans,” Washington Post editorial, December 18, 2005.

Rebecca James

Rebecca James is an IT consultant with forward thinking approach toward developing IT infrastructures of SMEs. She writes to engage with individuals and raise awareness of digital security, privacy, and better IT infrastructure.