How many times must the CIA be found carrying out its primary mission – breaking the law – before it is publically recognized as a deadly threat to freedom or at least the congruency of what passes for government these days?
The letter, which was declassified and made public today reveals that “the CIA has secretly conducted its own bulk program,” authorized under Executive Order 12333, rather than the laws passed by Congress.
The letter notes that the program was “entirely outside the statutory framework that Congress and the public believe govern this collection, and without any of the judicial, congressional or even executive branch oversight that comes from [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] collection.”
“FISA gets all the attention because of the periodic congressional reauthorizations and the release of DOJ, ODNI and FISA Court documents,” said Senators Wyden and Heinrich in response to the newly declassified documents. “But what these documents demonstrate is that many of the same concerns that Americans have about their privacy and civil liberties also apply to how the CIA collects and handles information under executive order and outside the FISA law. In particular, these documents reveal serious problems associated with warrantless backdoor searches of Americans, the same issue that has generated bipartisan concern in the FISA context.”
‘No need to bother any judge, congress critter, or the office of the president; we’ll just do whatever the hell we please!’
Now, sorry to bother you, back to the new abnormal. There’s a mask with your face under it, after all. Some women are sliding rocks across the ice on the telly! And, if you haven’t heard, the mean old Russians are up to something in another country you couldn’t find on a well-labeled map of Eastern Europe.
USA! USA?