NSA

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Senator Dan Coats accuses his congressional colleagues of "grandstanding" about the NSA:

Texas senator Ted Cruz, a Republican, told viewers on Fox News Monday morning that Americans should avoid a "rush to judgment" on the leaking of classified information by Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency systems analyst. The Washington Examiner has the video:

In a Sunday evening statement, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence Public Affairs Office released this statement, meant to clear up information on the National Security Agency’s data program.

Members of the U.S. Senate were given the opportunity to attend a briefing on Thursday that would bring them up to speed on the NSA surveillance operations, among other things.  The briefing would be conducted by James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, not some low-level staffer.

Friday evening, the State Department released a joint statement from the June 10-11 "U.S.-Germany Cyber Bilateral Meeting." The meeting was held in Washington.

Politics can seem frustratingly complex. It can be a challenge to grasp that the targeting of conservatives by Internal Revenue Service officials over the last few years constitutes a genuine scandal, while the lawful activities of employees of the National Security Agency do not. It can be a strain to distinguish the illegitimate and arbitrary use of government power to harass American citizens exercising their constitutional rights from the legitimate use of government power to protect the nation from our enemies abroad.

One might expect Keith Alexander to advocate on behalf of the two programs at the center of our national debate about terrorism and surveillance. He is, after all, the head of the National Security Agency, which runs them. “It’s dozens of terrorist events that these have helped prevent—both here and abroad—in disrupting or contributing to the disruption of terrorist attacks,” Alexander testified last week.

Should Americans fear the possible abuse of the intercept power of the National Security Agency at Fort Meade, Maryland? Absolutely. In the midst of the unfolding scandal at the IRS, we understand that bureaucracies are callous creatures, capable of manipulation. In addition to deliberate misuse, closed intelligence agencies can make mistakes in surveilling legitimate targets, causing mountains of trouble. Consider Muslim names.

The Scrapbook’s hypothesis that the substance of blockbuster news stories tends to diminish with time​—​there’s less here than meets the eye​—​is borne out most of the time. Which, as nonscientific theories tend to go, is an enviable record. 

Steve Hayes, with Kirsten Powers and Charles Krauthammer, last night on Fox News:

NSA chief Keith Alexander says Edward Snowden's claim that he could tap any phone call or email is "false":

"I saw an interview in which Mr. Snowden claimed that due to his position at NSA he could tap into virtually any American's phone call or e-mails," said Senator Susan Collins. "True or false?"

The NSA chief said, "False. I know of no way to do that."

Gary Schmitt writes:

[W]e still don’t know (at least publicly) exactly what Snowden’s job was. So questions remain about whether he should have had access to the materials he passed along to the Guardian and the Washington Post. Or is there some “hole” in the NSA’s internal IT system that allowed him to get around and get to materials he should not have been able to see, let alone download?