Justice Department's Spy Scanda

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright June 10, 2013

All Rights Reserved.                                             

        Atty. Gen. Eric Holder finds himself sinking fast in quicksand justifying his coordinated spying program on U.S. reporters trying to find out internal government leaks.  Holder’s counterpart at the National Security Agency James Clapper also finds himself behind the eight-ball, excusing his covert programs to spy on U.S. citizens examining cell phone records to tie reporters to NSA employees or contractors.  Fleeing to Hong Kong from Clapper and the NSA, 29-year-old intelligence contractor Edward Snowden admitted he blew the cover on the NSA’s secret surveillance program scanning millions of U.S. cell phone bills.  “My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them,” Snowden told the U.K.’s Guardian Newspaper.  Why Snowden tried to rat-out the NSA is anyone’s guess.  Judging by how he’s talking to the Guradian, it sounds like he’s had some sort of breakdown.  While there’s some logic to Snowden’s concerns, he’s acting erratically and sounding paranoid.

         Given today’s post-Sept. 11-world, the nation’s premier spy agencies, including the NSA, FBI and CIA, must do a better job of coordinating activities to prevent another Boston-type terrorist attack.  While the government likes to make the distinction between lone-wolf terrorists and those connected to networks, jihad is jihad.  When army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan lashed out Nov 5, 2009 at Fort Hood Texas killing 13, it took months for the government to acknowledge that he was linked to al-Qaeda’s Yemen-based terrorist Anwar Awlaki.  Whether you see Hasan as connected to al-Qaeda or not, he waged jihad inside the U.S. military causing untold mayhem.  When Santa Monica Police ID’d the lone-wolf killer of five June 7 as John Zawahri, eyebrows raised over the same surname as al-Qaeda’s No. 1, 62-year-old Egyptian-born Muslim Brotherhood leader Ayman al-Zawahri.  Whether there’s a connection in Santa Monica isn’t yet known. 

           No one denies the right of national security agencies to keep U.S. citizens safe in a post-Sept. 11- era.  Had they done a better job in Boston, the Chechen terror cell might have been intercepted before pressure cooker bombs exploded April 15 near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.  Coordinating with the NSA to spy on U.S. citizens, Holder walks a fine line superseding the First Amendment that guarantees private citizens and press free speech while preserving U.S. national security.   Codenamed PRISM, the NSA’s electronic surveillance program gives the FBI and NSA authority to monitor phone conversations with potential terrorists.  That same program doesn’t give spy agencies the right to investigate private citizens or journalists for leaks inside spy agencies.  “An analyst at any time can target anyone.  Any selector.  Anywhere.  Where those communications will be picked up depends on the range of those sensor networks and the authority those analysts are empowered with,” said Snowden.

           Snowden admits he could take great liberties working for the NSA, FBI or contractors like Booz Allen Hamilton to spy on anyone, anyplace or anytime.  Snowden’s disclosures embarrass the government not by egregious violations of the First Amendment but by hiring nerdy computer hackers to do the government’s dirty spying business.  “If it’s a straight leak of classified information, the government could subject him to 10 or 20 years for each count,” said Mark Zaid, a security lawyer who represents whistleblowers.  Snowden’s in Hong Kong, unsure whether or not the Chinese government will honor a 1998 extradition treaty bring Snowden back to the states to face government leak allegations.  Snowden’s whistleblowing violates his confidentiality agreement when he took employment with the CIA or Booz Allen Hamiliton that prevents him from going public with anything related to his job of hacking communication networks.

           While NSA officials defended their surveillance program, Snowden insists he leaked the information to protect basic Constitutional rights.  “I feel satisfied that this was all worth it.  I have no regrets,” said Snowden, speaking for Hong Kong, seeking asylum from any country that believes in free speech.  In case Snowden hasn’t checked, the U.S. is one of the only countries that protects free speech rights.  When he signed confidentiality agreements with the CIA and Booz Allen Hamilton to hack into cell phone networks with help from U.S. cellphone carriers, Snowden had no problem performing his job.  How he changed or decided to betray his employer is anyone’s guess.  Calling on Snowden to be extradited and prosecuted for treason, conservative Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) urged Snowden “extradited from Hong Kong immediately  . . . and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” treating Snowden as a common criminal for leaking classified information.

           Snowden’s case raises a number of concerns about Holder’s ambitious plan to stop government employees from leaking information to the press.  Unlike the problems of investigating journalists’ cell phone records to find government leakers, Snowden’s case raises issues of whether  or not NSA employees or contractors have a right to violate confidentiality agreements when they get frustrated with jobs or have mental breakdowns.  Judging by Snowden’s public remarks, he was unfit to serve in a classified capacity for the NSA or any of its contractors.  Whatever Holder does to prosecute leakers like Snowden, there’s a big difference with investigating journalists and private citizens for simply going about their usual-and- customary business.  Snowden knew what was expected in his low-level hacking job.  National security agencies have a right to pursue leads to try to prevent more terror attacks.  Snowden knew his job and chose to betray his commitments.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.