Congressman Skeptical About Claims of Accidental NSA E-Mail Intercepts
Some congressional officials are privately expressing skepticism about government claims that overbroad collection of e-mail and telephone calls was accidental.
Concerns are being voiced as several congressional committees are investigating the National Security Agency’s terrorism surveillance program, the New York Times reports. The probes were spurred by the disclosure that some intercepts of Americans’ private communications went beyond legal limits in late 2008 and early 2009.
One lawmaker went on the record with his qualms in an interview with the New York Times. “Some actions are so flagrant that they can’t be accidental,” said U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., the chairman of the House Select Intelligence Oversight Panel. Others told of concerns but refused to be quoted.
One former analyst for the National Security Agency supports the suspicions. He told the Times about a secret NSA database called Pinwale that archived foreign and domestic e-mail messages. Analysts trained in the program were told they could read as many as 30 percent of American e-mail messages in any database search.
One instructor had warned analysts trained in the program that they could be investigated if they abused their position—and said it had already happened when one analyst accessed the personal e-mail of former President Clinton.
