New documents show legal basis for NSA surveillance programs

[neverforget]

New documents show legal basis for NSA surveillance programs

(Reuters) - Documents released by the U.S. government show it views an executive order issued in 1981 as the basis of most of the National Security Agency's surveillance activities, the American Civil Liberties Union said on Monday.

The NSA relied on Executive Order 12333 more than it did on two other laws that have been the focus of public debate following the leaks exposing U.S. surveillance programs by former agency contractor Edward Snowden, according to the papers released by the ACLU.

The ACLU obtained the documents after filing a lawsuit last year seeking information in connection with the order, which it said the NSA was using to collect vast amounts of data worldwide, "inevitably" including communications of U.S. citizens.

The order, signed in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan, was intended to give the government broad authority over surveillance of international targets.

Thanks to Reagan, the President that keeps on giving us shit........

[villager]

1. And Obama *did* state his fandom of Reagan...

...so I guess our current (and future) lack of a 4th Amendment all makes sense now...

[LawDeeDah]

6. No, he did not.

[villager]

7. "(Reagan) tapped into what people were already feeling, which was, we want clarity, we want...

....optimism, we want a return to that sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship that had been missing."

You can read the whole thing here:

http://www.nytimes.com/ref/us/politics/21seelye-text.html

Granted, he's not using the three words "I like Reagan," but boy, he's sure not repudiating him, and that was a clue to our present predicament: The current President simply won't clearly renounce the excesses of his more obviously right-leaning predecessors.

Nor is he willing to undo many of their policies. Hence, no 4th Amendment. et al.

[LawDeeDah]

8. Obama was working in the streets to help undo the damage Reagan did.

It is quite clear he was not a fan, but recognized a shift in politics and history. A bad actor acting badly and people believed him. Obama has a clear and concise explanation during the '08 primaries, where Mrs. Clinton was saying the very same thing you did, and she was wrong. And you are wrong.

[villager]

9. Gosh, then I guess that Reagan Presidential directive must have been *repealed* in the alternate

...timeline where you dwell.

Since Obama is "clearly and concisely" undoing the damage of his Republican predecessors.

[LawDeeDah]

10. He meant that during his community service work.

If you think the President can undo what damage Reagan did with his laws, then I don't think you have been paying attention to what sort of congress he has to fight with each and every day over even the simplest things, and you want Obama to change laws that a Republican passed, a Reagan repug?

okaaaay.

[woo me with science]

14. Poor Obama.

It's gotta really suck when your *entire,* handpicked administration goes rogue and spends YEARS working aggressively, consistently, and proactively against all of your most cherished goals!

In fact, he is SO deeply and existentially obstructed that his own record looks like this:

The record shows aggressive, proactive pursuit of a corporate agenda,
(This list does not show a president trying to enact a liberal agenda and being obstructed. No, it shows him aggressively and proactively implementing policies for the banks and corporations at the expense of the 99 percent.)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3202395

CUT THE CRAP! Your Month in Review from the most "progressive" administration ever.
Whoa! More proactive corporatism!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025006297

Just a Republican thing, huh? Assaulting the Constitution itself
("Good god. I can't stop!&quot
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5554112

Study: Obama's "Trade" Deal (TPP) Would Mean a Pay Cut for 90% of U.S. Workers
("A Republican is making me do it?!&quot
http://citizen.typepad.com/eyesontrade/2013/09/the-verdict-is-in-the-trans-pacific-partnership-tpp-a-sweeping-free-trade-deal-under-negotiation-with-11-pacific-rim-coun.html

Obama’s Latest Betrayal of America and Americans in Favor of the Big Banks: TISA
("Oh, shit. Here I go again!&quot
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/06/26/1309671/--Obama-s-Latest-Betrayal-of-America-and-Americans-in-Favor-of-the-Big-Banks-TISA-by-Bill-Black

Bombing Syria: The next step in the PNAC playbook, remember?
("They're Democratic peace bombs: TOTALLY different!&quot
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025520459

The "Justice" Department under Obama
("Please, Mr. Holder! Stop! Stop!&quot
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025587151
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025586874

Look at the OFFERS.
("God I hate when this happens!&quot
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022060108

[LawDeeDah]

15. Imagine a President of the U.S. being a... a...

Capitalist! I do hear too often that he is a Marxist Leninist Kenyan Socialist too! The guy gets around!
Run, Linda, Run!

[Scuba]

20. Nailed that. The response was a total surrender.

[cali]

18. that isn't remotely endorsing Reagan. What he said, in simple terms,

is that he wanted to be a transformational President in the sense that Reagan was and in the sense that Kennedy was. He didn't mean with the same kind of policies as Reagan and he made that clear:

I think we are in one of those times right now, where people feel like things as they are going, aren't working, that we’re bogged down in the same arguments that we’ve been having and they’re not useful. And the Republican approach I think has played itself out.

"I think it’s fair to say that the Republicans were the party of ideas for a pretty long chunk of time there over the last 10, 15 years, in the sense that they were challenging conventional wisdom. Now, you’ve heard it all before. You look at the economic policies that are being debated among the presidential candidates, it’s all tax cuts. Well, we’ve done that. We’ve tried it. It’s not really going to solve our energy problems, for example…so some of it’s the times.”

Why people deliberately choose to misconstrue this is obvious: It fits the narrative they live by.

[villager]

22. The point is, Cali, he praised Reagan's "transformative" Presidency, not calling out

...its obvious destructiveness, which he's never done.

And yes, that turned out to be a "tell," about what we were in for.

Which is made obvious when he builds on, instead of repeals, Reagan executive orders that attack the 4th Amendment. For example.

[billhicks76]

12. Yeah He Did

He fawned over him in speeches. Oh the lemmings in our party.

[LawDeeDah]

16. Now he 'fawned'...

That's a gem you should keep shining up.
He must have 'fawned' somewhere on tape, would you have a copy so I can see this 'fawness'. It must be awesome!

[cali]

19. codswallop. and I can hardly be considered as someone who blindly supports the President

I get as much shit as anyone on here for criticizing the President. Read post 18.

[billhicks76]

13. Yeah He Did

In more than one speech. Where have you been? Blindly following? Look up the definition of lemming.

[LawDeeDah]

17. I was probably in school learning context.

OBAMA: Let's talk about it.

Hillary, I will be happy to provide you with the information about all -- all the spending that we do. Now, let's talk about Ronald Reagan. What you just repeated here today is...

CLINTON: Barack...

OBAMA: Wait. No. Hillary, you just spoke.

CLINTON: I did not say anything about Ronald Reagan.

OBAMA: You just spoke for two minutes.

CLINTON: You said two things.

OBAMA: You just...

CLINTON: You talked about admiring Ronald Reagan and you talked about the ideas...

OBAMA: Hillary, I'm sorry. You just...

BLITZER: Senator...

CLINTON: I didn't talk about Reagan.

OBAMA: Hillary, we just had the tape. You just said that I complimented the Republican ideas. That is not true.

What I said -- and I will provide you with a quote -- what I said was is that Ronald Reagan was a transformative political figure because he was able to get Democrats to vote against their economic interests to form a majority to push through their agenda, an agenda that I objected to. Because while I was working on those streets watching those folks see their jobs shift overseas, you were a corporate lawyer sitting on the board at Wal-Mart.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: I was fighting these fights. I was fighting these fights. So -- but I want to be clear.

So I want to be clear. What I said had nothing to do with their policies. I spent a lifetime fighting a lifetime against Ronald Reagan's policies. But what I did say is that we have to be thinking in the same transformative way about our Democratic agenda.

We've got to appeal to Independents and Republicans in order to build a working majority to move an agenda forward. That is what I said.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Now, you can dispute that, but let me finish.

Hillary, you went on for two minutes. Let me finish.

The irony of this is that you provided much more fulsome praise of Ronald Reagan in a book by Tom Brokaw that's being published right now, as did -- as did Bill Clinton in the past. So these are the kinds of political games that we are accustomed to.

CLINTON: Now, wait a minute.

Wolf, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Just a minute.

BLITZER: Senator Edwards, let them wrap up. Then I'm going to come to you.

Yes?

CLINTON: I just want -- I just to clarify -- I want to clarify the record. Wait a minute.

EDWARDS: There's a third person in this debate.

BLITZER: Wait a minute, Senator Edwards. Hold on.

There has been a specific charge leveled against Hillary Clinton, so she can respond. Then I'll bring in Senator Edwards.

CLINTON: I just want to be sure...

OBAMA: Go ahead and address what you said about...

BLITZER: We have got a long time to. You'll have a good opportunity.

CLINTON: We're just getting warmed up.

(APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: Now, I just -- I just want to be clear about this. In an editorial board with the Reno newspaper, you said two different things, because I have read the transcript. You talked about Ronald Reagan being a transformative political leader. I did not mention his name.

OBAMA: Your husband did.

CLINTON: Well, I'm here. He's not. And...

OBAMA: OK. Well, I can't tell who I'm running against sometimes.

(APPLAUSE)

[billhicks76]

21. I Won't Even Listen To Hillary Anymore

But I was referring to Obama lauding Reagan in speeches post 2009. But it's hardly surprising because someone obviously got to him evidenced by his countless flip flops after being selected President.

[Luminous Animal]

2. Snowden pointed this out in May....

* UPDATE 5.30.14: Snowden, in an exchange with the Washington Post, called the NSA’s release of a single email “tailored and incomplete.” He said that the release “does not include my correspondence with the Signals Intelligence Directorate’s Office of Compliance, which believed that a classified executive order could take precedence over an act of Congress, contradicting what was just published.

“It also did not include concerns about how indefensible collection activities – such as breaking into the back-haul communications of major US internet companies – are sometimes concealed under E.O. 12333 to avoid Congressional reporting requirements and regulations.”

http://www.wired.com/2014/05/snowden-email-to-nsa/

[JDPriestly]

3. Thanks. This admission by the NSA proves that Snowden demonstrated his concern and

addressed the problems with the NSA program including the questions about the authority (an executive order overruling the Fourth Amendment? Huh?) under which the NSA claims to be running it.

If this program has not already constituted a coup within our government, it certainly has the capacity to enable a coup within our government.

[neverforget]

5. He did. Thanks for the reminder!

[Octafish]

4. Poppy benefited from secret laws...

George Bush Takes Charge: The Uses of ‘Counter-Terrorism’

By Christopher Simpson
Covert Action Quarterly 58

EXCERPT...

NSDD 159. MANAGEMENT OF U.S. COVERT OPERATIONS, (TOP SECRET/VEIL‑SENSITIVE), JAN. 18,1985

The Reagan administration's commitment to significantly expand covert operations had been clear since before the 1980 election. How such operations were actually to be managed from day to day, however, was considerably less certain. The management problem became particularly knotty owing to legal requirements to notify congressional intelligence oversight committees of covert operations, on the one hand, and the tacitly accepted presidential mandate to deceive those same committees concerning sensitive operations such as the Contra war in Nicaragua, on the other.

The solution attempted in NSDD 159 was to establish a small coordinating committee headed by Vice President George Bush through which all information concerning US covert operations was to be funneled. The order also established a category of top secret information known as Veil, to be used exclusively for managing records pertaining to covert operations.

[font color="red"]The system was designed to keep circulation of written records to an absolute minimum while at the same time ensuring that the vice president retained the ability to coordinate US covert operations with the administration's overt diplomacy and propaganda.

Only eight copies of NSDD 159 were created. The existence of the vice president's committee was itself highly classified.[/font color] The directive became public as a result of the criminal prosecutions of Oliver North, John Poindexter, and others involved in the Iran‑Contra affair, hence the designation "Exhibit A" running up the left side of the document.

CONTINUED...

[woo me with science]

11. You forgot to put legal in quotation marks.

Mass surveillance of Americans by our own government is still viciously unconstitutional, no matter which corporate pig's executive order is trotted out by the current crop of corporate pigs to try to rationalize it.