Congress, Finally Curious About NSA Spying, Discovers That It's Even More Widespread Than Previously Believed

from the and,-to-think,-they-could-have-asked-before dept

As we've been pointing out for some time, a small number of elected officials in Congress have been practically screaming at the top of their lungs -- within the confines of what they're allowed to say about classified information -- that the NSA is clearly abusing its spying powers given to them under the Patriot Act. And, most of Congress didn't care. Last September, we noted that the House was ready to reauthorize the FISA Amendments Act, which includes a key provision that enabled part of the spying, and it refused to ask the NSA to answer some basic questions about how it was using the law. Those questions likely would have revealed much of the vast surveillance efforts that are now generating so much interest and controversy. Later, in voting for it, many in Congress flat out misrepresented what was in the bill itself. Rep. Trey Gowdy, who once argued that reporters should be put in jail if they report on intelligence leaks, insisted, vehemently, that the surveillance portion of the bill had "nothing to do with Americans on American soil." Gowdy's been silent on the issue since the leaks came out.

However, others in Congress, have suddenly become curious about what the NSA is doing, and they got a secret briefing, which apparently opened quite a few eyes. Rep. Linda Sanchez has noted that what's become public is "just the tip of the iceberg," suggesting that the NSA is going much, much further with its surveillance capabilities than what has already been revealed. That isn't all that surprising, but it is depressing (and ridiculous) that Congress is only curious enough to explore this issue now, despite many, many claims by fellow members of Congress that this was happening. I appreciate the fact that Reps. like Sanchez are now seeking the truth, but it's distressing that our own representatives ignored these points for so long, despite their colleagues trying to highlight the issue. Now, hopefully, this means that Congress will being to do something to stop the abuse.

Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) said lawmakers learned "significantly more" about the spy programs at the National Security Agency (NSA) during a briefing on Tuesday with counterterrorism officials.

"What we learned in there," Sanchez said, "is significantly more than what is out in the media today."

Well, what is out in the media... so far. Glenn Greenwald has already indicated that there are dozens of additional stories and revelations to come out of the other documents he has in his possession.