NSA enters stage two of its spying revival plan: Getting Trump onboard

Uncle Sam's intelligence agencies have embarked on the next stage of their plan to retain spying powers over US citizens: getting Donald Trump onboard. Knowing what we do about Donald's approach to policy issues, it seems unlikely that the American president is aware of what is going on. But somehow he has been persuaded to …

[Anonymous Coward]

Like i said previously on this subject

Trump doesn't give a crap about any laws or rights that don't allow him to line his pockets. He needs to look tough on terrorism, and this is a cheap way to do it.

[joed]

Re: Like i said previously on this subject

More than this. NSA has all the coercive power (backed up by "real" data) that individuals with any past (even more so when the past did not look so great in public) may be inclined to come to terms no truly independent person would agree on. It's surprising how short-sighted politician have been, ceding so much power (and tax money) to organization(s) with no oversight. By all accounts it's no a longer risk that military-industrial-intelligence complex will have them in the pocket at some point. Current state is the proof that just about all of them are puppets and our so called democracy is fiction, a cover up to please clueless masses.

[ritey]

Re: Like i said previously on this subject

Trump may want to be on the right side of the NSA so they can feed him with city knowledge. And im sure they would if it meant they can expand their powers.

[Queeg]

Seems about par for the course from the Rump

I hear next week Elmer Fudd gets the Chairmanship for Protection of Wabbits Society.

[John Smith 19]

And he's just the Chairman

Wait till you see the other sock puppets, apologists and idiots of his goon squad.

[James 51]

Trump

Drain the swamp, he is the swamp.

[B*stardTintedGlasses]

"Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board"

As in "Honorable Judges of the Supreme Court, our failure to abide by any form of Privacy or Civil Liberties in our shameless spying on all and sundry was nothing more than an Oversight. Therefore we demand immunity from prosecution for all our employees."

Words can be tricky. I refer you to the first definition, almost made for "Reasonable Doubt".

oversight

noun

1.

an unintentional failure to notice or do something.

"he had simply missed Parsons out by an oversight"

synonyms: mistake, error, fault, failure, omission, lapse, inaccuracy, slip, blunder, faux pas, miscalculation; More

2.

the action of overseeing something.

"effective oversight of the financial reporting process"

[Sir Runcible Spoon]

Sir

It isn't rocket science.

1. If the law allowed the NSA to spy on US citizens, then they don't need to protest.

2. If the law doesn't allow the NSA to spy on Citizens, and the NSA want to, they need to try and get the law changed so they can.

I suspect they can't get this authority passed into law as US citizens might not like it.

Knowingly subverting the law to enable the NSA to spy on US citizens is nothing less than treason against the state (which is run by US Citizens) and the entire organisation should be scrapped and started again with a lot more oversight.

Any statements from politicians that they are exempt from being included is bullshit - they weren't always in that position of privilege (i.e. private law) therefore NSA has something on them all.

The biggest hurdle people have to overcome is the access to good quality information upon which to base their opinions. A free (as in not owned by special interest groups) press is essential to liberty. Without it we have very little access to credible information.

[James 51]

Even if the law isn't renewed, they can keep breaking the law and Trump will pardon them all.

[Prosthetic Conscience]

I thought Trump as a "conservative" would be all about personal freedoms and restricting fed govt reach. Would his prepper alt-whatever electorate have anything to say about this? Unless they consider themselves as part of the "I've nothing to hide" camp.

[Milton]

Hmm, how to decide ...

The NSA is probably ahead even of Russian intelligence in having a huge stash of kompromat on Trump. I would imagine they only have to quietly mention the potential for "accidental" leakage of his tax returns for him to roll over and say "How high?"

It'll be a tricky high-wire stunt to continue with, though, and Trump is not exactly the sharpest tool in the box: how does he keep NSA happy, while also turning somersaults to avoid saying anything mean about Vlad the Emailer? Which does he fear more: his tax returns on the front of the WashPo—or some grainy photos of his temporary friend Olga? Good luck with that, Don.

[John Brown (no body)]

That wallpaper

Is that anti-facial recognotion "dazzle" wallpaper? Is Trump trying to hide from the NSA?

[Kirkan]

"Knowing what we do about Donald's approach to policy issues, it seems unlikely that the American president is aware of what is going on." LOL, like you have a clue and sit in the presidential briefings.

"But somehow he has been persuaded to revive a civil liberties oversight body that was torn apart for criticizing a controversial spying program that requires reauthorization by Congress at the end of the year."... Oh yeah the one killed under Obama, but you cant admit that, and you just cant fathom that the President cares about civil liberties because of your blind partisanship. LOL, go take a knee.