Tag: NSA

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Federal judge rules that NSA phone program is likely unconstitutional

A federal judge has ruled that the National Security Agency’s program of collection metadata for practically every phone call made to or from the US is likely unconstitutional:

U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon found that the program appears to violate the Fourth Amendment ban on unreasonable searches and seizures. He also said the Justice Department had failed to demonstrate that collecting the information had helped to head off terrorist attacks.

Acting on a lawsuit brought by conservative legal activist Larry Klayman, Leon issued a preliminary injunction barring the NSA from collecting so-called metadata pertaining to the Verizon accounts of Klayman and one of his clients. However, the judge stayed the order to allow for an appeal.
 
More at Politico.
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NSA-leaker Edward Snowden offered asylum IF he can reach the countries

The presidents of Bolivia, Venezuela and Nicaragua have offered asylum to NSA leaker Edward Snowden IF he can find a way out of Moscow, Russia, where he’s been holed up in the transit area of Sheremetyevo Airport for nearly two weeks.

The Foreign Minister of Venezuela has said Snowden has until Monday to accept their offer.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega made a similar offer during a speech in Managua, saying Nicaragua would be willing to grant asylum to the NSA leaker “if circumstances allow it.” He said the Nicaraguan embassy in Moscow is currently reviewing Snowden’s request. ”We have the sovereign right to help a person who felt remorse after finding out how the United States was using technology to spy on the whole world, and especially its European allies,” Ortega said.

Snowden is currently stuck in the transit area of Moscow’s airport with no way to enter Russia, and no valid U.S. passport for travel.

The Guardian reported that a member of Russia’s parliament said Sunday in a tweet that Venezuela could be Snowden’s last chance for asylum. If he does accept Maduro’s offer, he will have to find a way to travel to Caracas without a valid passport and without traveling through the airspace of America or its allies.

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More at MSNBC

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Eric Snowden, NSA whistleblower, appears headed to Ecuador

It appears that Eric Snowden, former NSA analyst who has leaked details of U.S. government surveillance programs, has left China and may be headed to Ecuador.

Washington is asking Ecuador, as well as Cuba and Venezuela (other possible asylum countries), not to admit Snowden, a senior Obama administration official told CNN on Sunday.

The United States also is asking those countries to expel him if they do admit him, the official said, and a a source familiar with the matter said that the U.S. government has revoked Snowden’s passport.

More at CNN.

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NSA leaker/whistleblower Eric Snowden charged with espionage and theft of government property

The AP is reporting that NSA leaker Eric Snowden has been charged with:

• unauthorized communication of national defense information
• willful communication of classified communications intelligence information
• theft of government property. All three crimes carry a maximum 10-year prison penalty

Each crime could result in a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

After providing the news media with information regarding two highly classified NSA surveillance programs, Snowden is believed to be hiding in China.

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NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden speaks out

Edward Snowden, the 29-year-old former technical assistant for the CIA who currently works for defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, revealed his identity and spoke out about why he leaked information about the NSA surveillance state in the U.S. in an interview and video released yesterday.

In a Q and A, Snowden says he fears for his partner:

“My family does not know what is happening … My primary fear is that they will come after my family, my friends, my partner. Anyone I have a relationship with … I will have to live with that for the rest of my life. I am not going to be able to communicate with them. They [the authorities] will act aggressively against anyone who has known me. That keeps me up at night.” 

The Guardian reports:

Snowden will go down in history as one of America’s most consequential whistleblowers, alongside Daniel Ellsberg and Bradley Manning. He is responsible for handing over material from one of the world’s most secretive organisations – the NSA.

In a note accompanying the first set of documents he provided, he wrote: “I understand that I will be made to suffer for my actions,” but “I will be satisfied if the federation of secret law, unequal pardon and irresistible executive powers that rule the world that I love are revealed even for an instant.”

(source)