Spy Kids

NY Times reporting this morning that the NSA far exceeded the limits Congress imposed upon its domestic spying. Quelle surprise!

Several intelligence officials, as well as lawyers briefed about the matter, said the N.S.A. had been engaged in “overcollection” of domestic communications of Americans. They described the practice as significant and systemic, although one official said it was believed to have been unintentional.

Overcollection is the new black, I guess. Check the Obama administration backpedal on the untamed NSA.

In a statement on Wednesday night, the N.S.A. said that its “intelligence operations, including programs for collection and analysis, are in strict accordance with U.S. laws and regulations.” The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees the intelligence community, did not address specific aspects of the surveillance problems but said in a statement that “when inadvertent mistakes are made, we take it very seriously and work immediately to correct them.”

The questions may not be settled yet. Intelligence officials say they are still examining the scope of the N.S.A. practices, and Congressional investigators say they hope to determine if any violations of Americans’ privacy occurred. It is not clear to what extent the agency may have actively listened in on conversations or read e-mail messages of Americans without proper court authority, rather than simply obtained access to them.

And let's remember that the Obama administration is trying to get every one of these court cases dismissed on the grounds that it's only illegal to "overcollect" if the information obtained without a warrant is actually used against you. Obama himself apparently has no problem with the"overcollection" itself.

Oh, and bonus political enemy abuse:

And in one previously undisclosed episode, the N.S.A. tried to wiretap a member of Congress without a warrant, an intelligence official with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The agency believed that the congressman, whose identity could not be determined, was in contact — as part of a Congressional delegation to the Middle East in 2005 or 2006 — with an extremist who had possible terrorist ties and was already under surveillance, the official said. The agency then sought to eavesdrop on the congressman’s conversations, the official said.

The official said the plan was ultimately blocked because of concerns from some intelligence officials about using the N.S.A., without court oversight, to spy on a member of Congress.

And you'd better believe if the NSA is trying to spy on members on Congress, they don't give a shit about people like you and me. Think about recordings of all your phone calls, your emails, your text messages, all sitting on a server in Fort Meade, Maryland.

And your President has no problem with this. Your President, as Senator, voted to give the NSA the ability to do this. He said he was safeguarding us. Now? Gosh, nobody could have predicted this power would continue to be abused with zero accountability.

Well I have a problem with it. You should too.

[UPDATE] Funny how allegations of warrantless wiretapping against members of Congress motivate them to investigate the issue.