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Disputed NSA Phone Program Is Shut Down, Aide Says (nytimes.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the he-said-she-said dept.

According to a senior Republican congressional aide, the National Security Agency has quietly shut down a system that analyzes logs of Americans' domestic calls and texts. "The agency has not used the system in months, and the Trump administration might not ask Congress to renew its legal authority, which is set to expire at the end of the year, according to the aide, Luke Murry, the House minority leader's national security adviser," reports The New York Times. From the report: In a raw assertion of executive power, President George W. Bush's administration started the program as part of its intense pursuit for Qaeda conspirators in the weeks after the 2001 terrorist attacks, and a court later secretly blessed it. The intelligence contractor Edward J. Snowden disclosed the program's existence in 2013, jolting the public and contributing to growing awareness of how both governments and private companies harvest and exploit personal data. The way that intelligence analysts have gained access to bulk records of Americans' phone calls and texts has evolved, but the purpose has been the same: They analyze social links to hunt for associates of known terrorism suspects.

Congress ended and replaced the program disclosed by Mr. Snowden with the U.S.A. Freedom Act of 2015, which will expire in December. Security and privacy advocates have been gearing up for a legislative battle over whether to extend or revise the program -- and with what changes, if any. Mr. Murry, who is an adviser for Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, raised doubts over the weekend about whether that debate will be necessary. His remarks came during a podcast for the national security website Lawfare. Mr. Murry brought up the pending expiration of the Freedom Act, but then disclosed that the Trump administration "hasn't actually been using it for the past six months." "I'm actually not certain that the administration will want to start that back up," Mr. Murry said. He referred to problems that the National Security Agency disclosed last year. "Technical irregularities" had contaminated the agency's database with message logs it had no authority to collect, so officials purged hundreds of millions of call and text records gathered from American telecommunications firms. A spokesman for Mr. McCarthy's office said that Mr. Murry "was not speaking on behalf of administration policy or what Congress intends to do on this issue."

12 of 117 comments (clear)

  1. Sure it is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Government officials outright denied having such program in the first place, up until Edward Snowden revealed that this stuff was indeed real and in use. How can we trust them to tell the truth now?

    1. Re:Sure it is... by phantomfive · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Trump doesn't seem to like the NSA or FBI very much. That could theoretically be a false flag, but I think they actually just don't like each other.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    2. Re: Sure it is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      You apparently cannot read, your statement had nothing to do with anything above it. Also yes, the NSA collects a lot of stuff including data involving Americans, and no, it's not illegal.

      But here's the text of the link you were too lazy to read or reply to :

      Despite their insistence that there was “no collusion” with the Kremlin, Trump associates had plenty of secretive interactions with Russians. The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has evidence that a meeting in the Seychelles days before Donald Trump’s inauguration was an effort to set up a back channel between the Kremlin and the incoming administration. As you may recall, Jared Kushner previously admitted that he discussed the possibility of communicating privately with Moscow during the transition — though he said his goals were innocent, and the link was never established.

      The true nature and purpose of these efforts remain a mystery, but recent reports have shed more light on the push establish a link between Team Trump and the Russians in the months before the president was sworn in. Here’s what we know so far.

      Kushner, Flynn, and Kislyak Discuss Back Channel
      There were several calls between Sergey Kislyak, Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., and Trump campaign officials Jared Kushner and Michael Flynn prior to Election Day, according to Reuters. In a statement before his closed-door appearance before the Senate Intelligence Committee in July, Kushner said he had no recollection of these calls. Kushner initially failed to list dozens of contacts with foreign officials on his security-clearance form, and was recently stripped of his temporary top-secret clearance.

      Kushner and Flynn secretly met with Kislyak in Trump Tower on December 1, 2016. Last spring the Washington Post reported that Kushner proposed using Russian diplomatic facilities in the U.S. to establish a back channel for communication between the Trump transition and the Russian government. U.S. intelligence intercepted Kislyak describing the request to his superiors.

      Kushner told Congress that Kislyak raised the idea, saying he wanted to convey information from his “generals” about the Syrian civil war, but needed a secure line. Kushner said he suggested going through the Russian embassy, but nothing came of it:

      I believed developing a thoughtful approach on Syria was a very high priority given the ongoing humanitarian crisis, and I asked if they had an existing communications channel at his embassy we could use where they would be comfortable transmitting the information they wanted to relay to General Flynn. The Ambassador said that would not be possible and so we all agreed that we would receive this information after the Inauguration.

      On December 1, Kushner, Flynn, and Kislyak also talked about setting up a meeting between a Trump associate and a Russian contact, according to the Post:

      In addition to their discussion about setting up the communications channel, Kushner, Flynn and Kislyak also talked about arranging a meeting between a representative of Trump and a “Russian contact” in a third country whose name was not identified, according to the anonymous letter.

      Flynn resigned as Trump’s national-security adviser on February 13, 2017, saying he gave fellow administration officials “incomplete information” on his discussions with Kislyak regarding sanctions. On December 1, 2017, he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about those discussions during the transition, and he’s now working with Mueller.

      Trump welcomes Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan to the White House on May 15, 2017.
      Secret Trump Tower Meeting With Emirates Leader
      Kushner and Flynn, along with Steve Bannon, had another secret Trump Tower meeting with the crown prince of the United Arab Emirates on December 15, 2016. In a breach of protocol, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan did not notify

    3. Re: Sure it is... by kilfarsnar · · Score: 3

      Why won't the FBI declassify the Uranium One documents? Who was FBI director at the time of the Uranium One deal? Why didn't Mueller recuse himself in the so-called "Russia investigation"?

      The Clinton-Russia Coverup continues...

      Really, we're still on the Uranium one deal? Fox News, of all outlets, debunked this over a year ago.

      From the linked article: "The accusation is predicated on the charge that Secretary Clinton approved the sale. She did not," Smith said. "A committee of nine evaluated the sale, the president approved the sale, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and others had to offer permits, and none of the uranium was exported for use by the US to Russia."

      There is plenty for which to criticize Hillary Clinton. You don't have to resort conspiracy theories.

      --
      "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
    4. Re: Sure it is... by mSparks43 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      ->Why didn't Mueller recuse himself in the so-called "Russia investigation"?

      Assuming this is a serious question and not just retorical propaganda.

      Because he didnt have a conflict of interest from being involved in the Trump campaign.

      Luckily for the entire Americunt justice system. Previously investigating criminals in the past doesnt mean you have to recuse yourself from investigating criminals in the future.

      Being motivated to put effort into finding crime makes for a good investigator.

      And also, he had previously been involved in covering up both Trump and Clintons visits to Lolita island, so they could be sure he wouldn't expose too much about the wrong people.

  2. NSA? Google! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Google knows more about all of us than the NSA,

  3. Look at exactly what they said and how. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That ONE system isn't being used. They didn't mention the ones that ARE. They don't credibly claim that they've turned off XKEYSCORE and the entire chain. It's a very limited statement designed to say exactly what it says.
     

    1. Re: Look at exactly what they said and how. by Narcocide · · Score: 3, Interesting

      (it is called Facebook)

  4. No Need by mentil · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's been superseded by a new, broader, more secretive, more intrusive, more brazenly unconstitutional program.

    --
    Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
    1. Re:No Need by msauve · · Score: 4, Insightful

      They're just following the Facebook playbook. "Tell them we'll stop, and maybe they'll believe it, forget about it, and leave us alone."

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
  5. Well, I for one totally believe the NSA by ph1ll · · Score: 5, Informative

    ... after James Clapper lied to Congress.

    Sorry, I mean "simply forgot" to mention it as his lawyer puts it. "Oh, you Congressmen were asking questions about that surveillance program? I thought you meant another one."

    It was so nice of Edward Snowden to remind him about it. And what thanks does he get?

    --
    --- "We've always been at war with Eastasia."
  6. In other words by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Insightful

    They don't need it anymore. They got something better.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.