Dick Cheney Lies: Claims Not A Single Case Of NSA Abusing Its Authority
from the that's,-um,-not-true dept
At the bottom of a Mother Jones article covering a "behind-closed-doors talk" by former Vice President Dick Cheney -- in which he talked up (to applause) the idea of bombing Iran and whined that President Obama was too weak in the Middle East -- the authors mention that actually much of his speech was devoted to defending the NSA. Apparently, he did this by flat out lying.There is the belief, he said, "that we have created in the National Security Agency this monster bureaucracy that's reading everybody's mail, listening to everybody's phone calls, infringing upon our civil liberties and civil rights. Hogwash." He claimed that there has not been a single case of NSA abusing its authority.Well, except an internal NSA audit that was reported on months ago actually found that the NSA abused its authority thousands of times per year. And, really, a big part of the complaints aren't necessarily that the NSA abused its authority, but that even if they didn't "abuse their authority" that the ability to collect all this information was legal in the first place. Meanwhile, we also know that there are also a bunch of cases where the NSA has admitted analysts willfully abused their powers. And, while the NSA claims that it's caught all of those involved, a large percentage of them involved "self-reporting," which suggests many cases of abuse slipped under the radar. And, of course, there were many other known abuses as well, including many years in which the NSA flat-out ignored the FISA court's rules on handling metadata, allowing it to be shared widely, despite rules and promises not to do so.
This also ignores the fact that both a federal judge and the federal government's privacy and civil liberties oversight board (PCLOB) found the program unconstitutional and illegal. Yes, others have found that the program is legitimate, but to ignore the still open-ended question as to the legitimacy of the program to argue that there's been "no abuse" of authority is ridiculous. Hell, even the famed rubber stamping FISA court came close to shutting down the program and elsewhere discussed how the so-called privacy protections within the program was "so frequently and systematically violated" as to mean that they have "never functioned effectively."
I don't know about how Dick Cheney defines "abuse their authority," but it seems like there's fairly strong evidence of pretty widespread abuse -- much of it taking place while Cheney was in power. Of course, since his definition of "abuse" seems to be "doing something that Dick Cheney personally doesn't like," then, I guess he'd be correct. But, given the rather clear -- and flat-out admitted -- cases of abuse, combined with significant claims that the entire program is abusive -- it would appear that Cheney is simply lying.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: abuse, dick cheney, lies, nsa, surveillance
Reader Comments
The First Word
“He's telling the truth!
He claimed that there has not been a single case of NSA abusing its authority.He's right you know. There hasn't been a single case, there's been loads of them!
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Abuse
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Why
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
He's telling the truth!
He's right you know. There hasn't been a single case, there's been loads of them!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The Law Is Relative
I disagree with the assertion that their mandate or the "laws" they've been granted are constitutional but that's my perspective.
I find this argument similar to one that is shared here on intellectual property. Many have argued that the law is not relevant compared to modern technology, business models, etc. and some who hold that believe willingly "break the law" or abuse it in some cases to further their goals - which they believe are just in some way.
The shades of grey are darker for some; less so for others no matter how wrong the other "side" feels they are.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Remember
Maybe he wants us to apologize to the NSA for making them have to dig for our information?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
It's a compulsion
S'why he shot that lawyer in the face.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Rename the title of the article:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Rename the title of the article:
"These damn [lies] are falling Out of [his] pants pocket [he] can't stop it!"
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
James Clapper Lied
James Clapper admitted that NSA searched content without warrant.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/01/nsa-surveillance-loophole-americans-data
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
What else could be expected?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: What else could be expected?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Oh, wait...George W Bush is still in his 4th term keeping all the government criminals (such as torturing CIA-guys) out of jail.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
How do we know Dick Cheney is lying?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
LOVEINT
(Maybe he thinks it isn't abuse because he does it himself?)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: LOVEINT
At least, that's the excuse I would give.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: LOVEINT
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
I'm not sure this was a really privacy violation myself. Although the speech wasn't open to the press or the general public, it was still statements he himself made in a public speech.
...and then writing a story about what he supposedly said.
At this point there is nothing "supposed" about it since there is an actual audio copy of the speech.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Had Fox done this, what would you say?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
If you are going to drop already discredited turds of wisdom on the American people, I strongly recommend painting them white so they at least look like pearls.
Totally insincerely,
JAAT
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Defense Fund?
We cant all be the front line fighters, but we can make sure they have all the backup $$ they need for their attorneys.
I will celebrate the day he has his final heart attack.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Dick Cheney Lies...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
easy rebuttal
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: easy rebuttal
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Why is this news?
Like other posters are saying, why are we still giving him attention?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Imagine, Dick Cheney could lie? Oh, the horror of imagining such an event. /s
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
This is a spokesman?
Who's your next spokesman? Donald Trump? Bob from Bob's Fine Used Cars?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
"BUT", and there is a big ole "BUTT" there, to obey an illegal order is a crime, the NSA were illegally given the authority to commit crimes, however as ignorance of the law is no excuse and is was a crime to obey those orders, then the NSA by law as individuals committed crimes and each and every one of those individuals who committed crimes against the constitution and, obeyed illegal orders, they should be individually investigated and prosecuted from the top down, starting with Uncle Tom Obama the choom gang coward.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]