NSA Defenders Claim 'All 3 Branches' Of Gov't Have Approved Its Programs -- But All 3 Are Now Demanding Reforms

from the times-change dept

Ever since the Snowden documents started revealing the massive overreach by the NSA, defenders of the agency and the programs have stuck by their mantra that the program is "legal" and that it was "approved by all three branches of the government." That line has been repeated over and over again. Of course, as we noted back in August, it quickly became apparent that the three parts charged with oversight were all being misled by the NSA. However, at this point, the claim that the programs have been approved by all three branches is demonstrably false.

In fact, as The Wire points out, you can now say that all three branches of the government are actually demanding NSA reforms, thanks to Judge Leon's decision on Monday. On the executive branch side, we have the the intelligence task force, which while recommending mostly cosmetic changes are clearly demanding reforms. And, over in Congress, there's the USA Freedom Act, which isn't perfect but certainly would roll back many of the worst overreaches.

Of course, you can expect that defenders of the NSA programs will continue to ignore all this and insist, yet again, that the programs have been approved by all three branches of government, but at that point, hopefully people will remind them that, even if that was true (and it was already misleading), all three branches of government appear to have changed their minds about it.

Filed Under: congress, executive, judicial, nsa, privacy, reforms, surveillance