Officials Say White House Knew of Spying

New York Times ^ | September 29, 2013 | By MARK LANDLER and MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT

[lbryce]

The nation’s top spymaster said on Tuesday that the White House had long been aware in general terms of the National Security Agency’s overseas eavesdropping, stoutly defending the agency’s intelligence-gathering methods and suggesting possible divisions within the Obama administration.

The official, James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence, testified before the House Intelligence Committee that the N.S.A. had kept senior officials in the National Security Council informed of surveillance it was conducting in foreign countries. He did not specifically say whether President Obama was told of these spying efforts, but he appeared to challenge assertions in recent days that the White House had been in the dark about some of the agency’s practices.

Mr. Clapper and the agency’s director, Gen. Keith Alexander, vigorously rejected suggestions that the agency was a rogue institution, trawling for information on ordinary citizens and leaders of America’s closest allies, without the knowledge of its Washington overseers.

Their testimony came amid mounting questions about how the N.S.A. collects information overseas, with Republicans and Democrats calling for a congressional review, lawmakers introducing a bill that would curb its activities, and Mr. Obama poised to impose his own constraints, particularly on monitoring the leaders of friendly nations. At the same time, current and former American intelligence officials say there is a growing sense of anger with the White House for what they see as attempts by the administration to pin the blame for the controversy squarely on them.

[lbryce]

Wow. So in essence what they are saying is that the reports of Obama not knowing of the spying either by his own word, which is what he said or by others in his defense are saying the President is a liar.

The last time someone had the courage to speak up like that, the repercussions were significant but won't be the same this time, for sure.

Wall Street Journal:September 11, 2009-'You Lie!' Jars Washington but Resonates Back Home

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

(from the article) :" The official, James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence, testified before the House Intelligence Committee
that the N.S.A. had kept senior officials in the National Security Council informed of surveillance it was conducting in foreign countries.

With Fienstein on the intelligence committee, what could go wrong ? ; insn't that an oxymoron ?
Who's watching the watchers ?

This reminds me of Obama's explaination about spying , ..the 4th version , as I remember :
....Right after never doing it,
they stopped doing it !! .......Bwahahahahaha!

[FlingWingFlyer]

Obama isn’t as dumb as he looks and acts. He knew.

[ThunderSleeps]

Of course obama knew about it and either instigated it, outright okay'd it, or at least tacitly approved it by not stopping it.

You wouldn't have a national level intelligence agency conducting this kind of comprehensive and thorough data collection - with all the potential downside should it come to light - without the people in charge being aware of it.

Does anyone really think the people in charge over at the NSA thought "Gee, it would be nice to know what's going on in our allies' governments. I think we'll set up a far reaching intelligence net and spy on their top officials. Sure, this could have a huge negative impact on our international relations if it gets out. Those allies we're spying on will be pissed, allies we're not even spying on will be angry and suspicious... But nah, we don't need to ok this with the boss, let's just do it. He won't even notice when intel from these sources starts working its way into the regular briefings."

Anyone really think something like that occurred? Or is it far more likely that the petulant, power-hungry, narcissistic {expletive} in the White House ordered it? I could see why he'd do it - for leverage. But more likely he wants and needs intel on our allies as well as our enemies because when it comes to international politics he was (and still is) a babe in the woods. (witness how Putin schooled him over Syria) obama knows it, his people know it. When it comes to international dialog he can't spot the nube/rube at the table. Just like in poker, if you can't spot the sucker at the table, it is probably you. Knowing he doesn't know anything about what he's doing, he's looking for any and every advantage he can find.

There is no way I believe obama didn't know. No way.

[Mears]

Of course he did but he’ll still throw others under the bus to save his sorry a** !

Not an ounce of honor in him.

.

[Busko]

Welkomme to das USSA!!

[ogen hal]

The Clown Prince nobama is like the 3 no hear/see/do monkeys...especially the ones with hands over eyes and hands over ears. No racial comments intended, of course.

[jpsb]

Is there something wrong with keeping an eye-ear on “our friends”? Seems like that is something “we” should be doing.

[PghBaldy]

You are right. The article also mentions spying on Americans and implying it was approved too.

[dragnet2]

Bookmark

[dragnet2]

You are right. The article also mentions spying on Americans and implying it was approved too.

They're all lying...Every damn one of them.

[dragnet2]

To be clear, all of this spying/monitoring of law abiding American citizens and our allies was not only 100 percent approved, it was directed and ordered.

The motive is total control, resulting in total power.

[Brad from Tennessee]

Clapper was caught in a series of lies—presumably to protect NSA’s capabilities—before Congress earlier this year only to be outed by Edward Snowden. He may have resolved not to chance repeating that embarrassment but to tell the truth despite the White House spin. What can they do to him; fire him so he can go write a book about how Obama used NSA for domestic political espionage? Clapper probably knows where some bodies are buried.

[PghBaldy]

Yes, you are right.