NSA Hacked Email Account of Mexican President

rtoz writes "The National Security Agency (NSA ) of United States hacked into the Mexican president's public email account and gained deep insight into policymaking and the political system. The news is likely to hurt ties between the US and Mexico. This operation, dubbed 'Flatliquid,' is described in a document leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden. Meanwhile U.S. President Barack Obama's administration is urging the Supreme Court not to take up the first case it has received on controversial National Security Agency cybersnooping."

Comments

Well that's new

[TubeSteak]

US government attorneys argue that the Supreme Court does not have the jurisdiction to take the case, filed in July by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC).

First time I've seen the government argue that the Court doesn't have jurisdiction.
All the other cases that have been quashed were either from claiming the plaintiff had no standing to sue, or that it involved State Secrets.

It's especially ballsy to try and argue that the Supreme Court doesn't have jurisdiction.

A US Supreme Court decision to take the case would be "a drastic and extraordinary remedy that is reserved for really extraordinary causes," argued Donald Verrilli, an administration lawyer, in a statement released late Tuesday.

"drastic and extraordinary remedy"
No shit. It certainly seems like we need one of those.

Re:Well that's new

[Arker]

"It's especially ballsy to try and argue that the Supreme Court doesn't have jurisdiction."

It's worse than you think.

They are simultaneously arguing in lower courts that the lower courts have no jurisdiction because it's a matter for the SC, AND in the SC that the SC does not have jurisdiction, because it's a question for the lower courts.

Re:First Brazil, now Mexico, who's next ?

[RabidReindeer]

Who will be next ?

America is fast losing friends if this trend is continuing.

Not that long ago, Russians, Chinese, Cubans, Iranians, North Koreans were painted as EVIL because America said so ~ and the world (mainly Europeans, plus many third world countries) generally subscribe to that view because the United States of America supposed to be trustworthy

Is America anymore trustworthy than the Russians, Chinese, Cubans, Iranians, or North Koreans ?

There are those who paint Snowden as a traitor who has harmed the security of the USA for leaking information about the excesses of the NSA. Snowden, however, was not the first to speak up, nor is he likely to be the last. He was just the snowflake that triggered the avalanche. It WOULD have come out sooner or later - I forget if it's Ben Franklin or an old Russian adage that "3 men can keep a secret if 2 of them are dead", but sooner or later, truth leaks out. Just ask Richard Nixon.

The greatest enemy to the security and integrity of the USA hasn't been Snowden. He was just one of many messengers. The real enemy was the NSA itself. Had they simply done what they said they were doing, well it's an ugly business, but a necessary one. By grossly exceeding their mandate like a horde of rampaging Mongols, however, they have damaged the credibility and the moral authority of the USA in ways that will take a long, long, time to repair. If ever.