More on the NSA

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.


Here are a few useful links to fairly detailed background reading on the NSA spying program—some of which may have been linked to elsewhere. A complete chapter of James Risen’s book, which looks at what those few Justice Department officials in the know call “The Program,” is now online. Two interesting tidbits: First, the NSA was given authority to determine, on its own and without any oversight whatsoever, which people they should start spying on in the first place. Second, “senior administration officials” differ on whether the intelligence has actually been used in criminal cases—one of the difficulties in determining this is that, if the NSA happens to find something useful, it will “launder” the intelligence before it is distributed to the CIA or FBI to hide the origins of the info.

Also, two other scholarly links. Back in 2001, Lawrence Sloan wrote a long article on Echelon, the global surveillance system, which is pretty thorough in laying out the legal issues, and pointing out that current rules are inadequate to the task of overseeing the NSA, as technology advances and whatnot. (He believes the NSA, and Echelon, are fundamentally valuable, but just need better oversight.) On a sort of related note, Michael Froomkin has a good 1994 law article going in-depth on the problems with having an “imperial presidency,” along with a follow-up here.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY...

Trump is clamping down on the media—using lawsuits, lies, intimidation, and a thuggish Federal Communications Commission. Corporate media are caving, but Mother Jones won’t back down. To help us stand strong, a generous board member has chipped in a $50,000 digital matching gift. Help us make the most of it!

Every contribution through September 30 will be matched dollar-for-dollar.

We have nearly 50 years of experience standing up to bullies. Government intimidation, nuisance lawsuits, threats to our nonprofit status—we’ve seen it all. Yet because we’re supported by a community of readers like you, we’re still here and still reporting like hell. Please stand with us. Every dollar you give will go twice as far.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY...

Trump is clamping down on the media—using lawsuits, lies, intimidation, and a thuggish Federal Communications Commission. Corporate media are caving, but Mother Jones won’t back down. To help us stand strong, a generous board member has chipped in a $50,000 digital matching gift. Help us make the most of it!

Every contribution through September 30 will be matched dollar-for-dollar.

We have nearly 50 years of experience standing up to bullies. Government intimidation, nuisance lawsuits, threats to our nonprofit status—we’ve seen it all. Yet because we’re supported by a community of readers like you, we’re still here and still reporting like hell. Please stand with us. Every dollar you give will go twice as far.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate