DNI – James Clapper, told congress (March) that no-one in the NSA was “collecting” information on U.S. Citizen’s communication.   After the NSA whistleblower, Snowden, gave the media specific evidence that such collection is actually taking place, Clapper attempts to clarify his prior testimony.   The White House also supports him.

WASHINGTON DC – Director of National Intelligence James Clapper is really struggling to explain why he told Congress in March (see video above) that the National Security Agency does not intentionally collect any kind of data on millions of Americans. His latest take: It’s an unfair question, he said, like “When are you going to stop beating your wife?” And it seems to depend on the meaning of “collect.”

“I responded in what I thought was the most truthful, or least untruthful, manner by saying ‘no,’” Clapper told NBC News on Sunday.

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“Dubya would never have done this to us“…  Support/Approval for George W Bush now exceeds President Obama.

WASHINGTON DC – The FBI has dramatically increased its use of a controversial provision of the Patriot Act to secretly obtain a vast store of business records of U.S. citizens under President Barack Obama, according to recent Justice Department reports to Congress. The bureau filed 212 requests for such data to a national security court last year – a 1,000-percent increase from the number of such requests four years earlier, the reports show.

The FBI’s increased use of the Patriot Act’s “business records” provision — and the wide ranging scope of its requests — is getting new scrutiny in light of last week’s disclosure that that the provision was used to obtain a top-secret national security order requiring telecommunications companies to turn over records of millions of telephone calls.  (continue reading)

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I believe the NSA data collection is unconstitutional based on usurpation of the 4th Amendment.   So given that I’m torn on this guy’s action:  How do you lawfully report on the government engaging in unconstitutional secret conduct – without yourself violating the law, when revealing the government’s unlawful conduct is, itself, illegal?

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.  

–Fourth Amendment To U.S. Constitution

The NSA defenders are essentially saying the “collection” of this data is only used to identify issues “after” an engagement is identified.   Meaning if they find a terrorist’s email address, or cell phone, they can access this NSA database of global phone calls, and global information collected to reference and trail the information historically. (more…)

Last week in response to the exploding controversy about the NSA leaks, and the revelations the NSA is tracking, monitoring, collecting and housing the personal communication of American citizens, President Obama said on Friday that “every member of congress is aware of the NSA intelligence gathering, and has been briefed”.

On its face that was an absurd statement. Patently false in construct. Which led to dozens of members of congress, both Democrats and Republicans, disputing such a claim by the administration. It was simply a blatantly false claim.

Today, when questioned about that specific false claim by President Obama, Jay Carney said this: