The government seems to keep a lot of information from the public — through redactions or just outright withholding.
And the standard view is that we must protect national security. “Methods” and “Sources” cannot be revealed because it would harm future efforts and could cost lives.
No one wants anyone to be put in danger. But the business of “methods” seems specious to me. The NSA and CIA and FBI apparently “know things” but they cannot seem to act on this knowledge because it would endanger government efforts. Well, why bother to know this stuff?
If the NSA has copies of everyone’s data transmission — and knows everything there is to know about Seth Rich — then this information should be acted upon. To do nothing because it would “reveal our capabilities” is ridiculous. We are in the middle of a coup attempt. Now is when you use all your tools. Now is when you throw caution to the wind and get the bad guys through any means at your disposal. If now is not the time, then we should close the NSA and CIA because we don’t actually seem to make use of their services. Why pay for what we will not use?
I suspect part of the situation is that what they have, as it was not gathered pursuant to a warrant, is not admissible in any court. So two problems: the obvious political issues, and secondly they need to get the targets to make a mistake so that the information they have can be brought into daylight legally.
At least, that’s what I wonder...
“If the NSA has copies of everyone’s data transmission — and knows everything there is to know about Seth Rich — then this information should be acted upon. To do nothing because it would “reveal our capabilities” is ridiculous. We are in the middle of a coup attempt. Now is when you use all your tools.”
Exactly!