DNI Admits FISA Surveillance Violated the 4th Amendment

colinneagle writes, quoting Ms. Smith: "It's official; the government's spying efforts exceeded the legal limits at least once (PDF), meaning it is also officially 'unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment.' The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) sent a letter to Sen. Ron Wyden giving permission to admit that much. This started with Sen. Wyden requesting that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) declassify some statements regarding the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act enacted by the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. Although this FISA power is supposed to sunset in December 2012, in May a new Senate bill extended the warrantless wiretapping program for five more years. That vote was regarded as the first step 'toward what the Obama administration hopes will be a speedy renewal of an expanded authority under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to monitor the U.S. e-mails and phone calls of overseas targets in an effort to prevent international terrorist attacks on the country.'"

Comments

Re:Write you Senators and Congress people

[Dyinobal]

SOPA/PIPA was stopped because of people writing and calling their congressmen but that seems to be the exception to the rule. Any time I write my congressman be it mail or Email, he doesn't change the way he votes, and then he sends me all sorts of campaign propaganda and asks me to donate to him. Ya right..

Re:Too late

[cold fjord]

And when you step back and ask, "Who ARE they afraid of?", I just think about where the politicians' money is coming from.

And I keep coming up with one answer: very wealthy business men hiding behind their corporations and Super PACs.

If what your wrote is true, the events listed below should be impossible. Since the events below actually happened, what you wrote is absolute rubbish.

Former Chairman and CEO of Kellogg, Brown & Root Inc. Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Foreign Bribery and Kickback Schemes

WASHINGTON—Albert “Jack” Stanley, a former chairman and chief executive officer of Kellogg, Brown & Root Inc. (KBR), was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by participating in a decade-long scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials to obtain engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts and for conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud as part of a separate kickback scheme, the Justice Department’s Criminal Division today announced.

U.S. Sues Kellogg, Brown & Root for Alleged False Claims Act Violations Over Improper Costs for Private Security in Iraq

WASHINGTON—The United States has filed a lawsuit against Kellogg Brown & Root Services (KBR) alleging that the defense contractor violated the False Claims Act, the Justice Department announced today. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, alleges that KBR knowingly included impermissible costs for private armed security in billings to the Army under the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP) III contract. The LOGCAP III contract provides for civilian contractor logistical support, such as food services, transportation, laundry, and mail, for military operations in Iraq.

Former TBW CEO Sentenced to 40 Months in Prison for Fraud Scheme

WASHINGTON—The former chief executive officer (CEO) of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker (TBW) was sentenced today to 40 months in prison for his role in a more than $2.9 billion fraud scheme that contributed to the failure of TBW. At one time, TBW was one of the largest privately held mortgage lending companies in the United States.

U.S. Charges Ex-Worldcom CEO Bernard Ebbers

JOHN ASHCROFT, the Attorney General of the United States, DAVID N. KELLEY, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and PASQUALE D'AMURO, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI New York Field Office, announced today the unsealing in Manhattan federal court of a Superseding Indictment charging BERNARD J. EBBERS, the former Chief Executive Officer and President of WorldCom, Inc. ("WorldCom"). The Superseding Indictment charges EBBERS with conspiracy and securities fraud in connection with his participation from September 2000 through June 2002 in a scheme to inflate artificially the price of WorldCom common stock by hiding from investors the truth about WorldCom's declining operating performance and financial results.

Two Former Canopy Financial Co-Founders Sentenced to 15 and 1

Re:Exactly how many 3-letter spook agencies are th

[cffrost]

Nowadays, can someone please tell me now many are out there?

Many: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Category:United_States_intelligence_agencies

Note that not all of those entries are for agencies; some are for programs, etc.

Re:Too late

[betterunixthanunix]

Except that third parties are left at a deliberate disadvantage by those in power, the police invade the homes of unarmed citizens and using grenades and assault rifles, and the executive branch of government has the power to declare laws and then arrest people for violating those laws...