Hayden Defends the NSA

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Glenn Greenwald has a must-read post eviscerating NSA Director Gen. Michael Hayden’s defense of the NSA domestic spying program. From all appearances, the NSA wasn’t doing any sort of data-mining, as previously thought (although Hayden’s denial is vague enough that this could still be a possibility). Instead, it was, apparently, illegally lowering the standards required for monitoring U.S. citizens and circumventing the FISA Court by refusing to get warrants, which are required by law. It’s hard to see how this isn’t illegal.

Meanwhile, in his Q&A session, Gen. Hayden never really gave any indication that the new program—or the new, illegal criteria for monitoring domestic suspects—actually works, or has led to arrests or any sort of tangible domestic security success. And no one seems to have really pressed this point. Granted, this sort of pales beside the issue of whether the administration broke the law or not, but it’s still a pretty crucial question.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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