House Judiciary Committee Rails Against Domestic Spying - NSA Told in Hearing 'You've Got a Problem'

EFF - The House Judiciary Committee's hearing on the government's unconstitutional spying provided the Obama Administration with a marvelous opportunity to answer Congress’s questions about abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act, the laws being used by the government to order phone companies provide the calling information from every American's calling information.

Representatives from both parties grilled the government’s witnesses about the spying, the lack of transparency, the violation of the law, and the violation of the Fourth Amendment. Sadly, the witnesses were caught off guard, unable to answer questions, and hid behind secrecy.

"You've Already Violated the Law"

 

Many of the representatives were incensed the government believes it has the legal authority to collect every American's calling information without violating the law or the Constitution. A core issue is the government's use of Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act. Section 215 allows the government to obtain "any tangible thing" to be obtained by the government if "relevant" to an authorized national security investigation. In his introduction, Rep. John Conyers spoke plainly of the abuses, noting:

"We never—at any point during this debate—approved the type of unchecked, sweeping surveillance of United States citizens."

Rep. Conyers concluded saying, in his view, the witnesses "already violated the law" by using Section 215 to obtain such an enormous amount of call records.   Read More