NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden said Friday that Section 702 of FISA would never have been reauthorized this week if Congress had been aware of alleged abuses detailed in a government memo. (Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr/cc)
Jan 19, 2018
Edward Snowden joined those calling for officials to release a memo that's said to have information about the government's surveillance abuses. The secrecy of the document, according to the NSA whistleblower, contributed to the reauthorization of a government spying bill narrowly approved by Congress this week.
The vote to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for six more years, which came despite the objections of privacy and civil liberties advocates, will allow the government to spy on the electronic communications of Americans without a warrant.
\u201cOfficials confirm there's a secret report showing abuses of spy law Congress voted to reauthorize this week. If this memo had been known prior to the vote, FISA reauth would have failed. These abuses must be made public, and @realDonaldTrump should send the bill back with a veto. https://t.co/BEwJ9EyIq0\u201d— Edward Snowden (@Edward Snowden) 1516366505
And the ACLU agreed:
\u201cThe Intelligence Committee memo about government surveillance abuses should have been made public and given to members of Congress before the FISA Section 702 vote.\n\nTrump must veto the bill so there can be a real debate on these powers. https://t.co/VZOLmYXdrj\u201d— ACLU (@ACLU) 1516384140
Calls to #ReleaseTheMemo have been heard largely from Republicans including Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), who was cleared by an ethics committee last month of giving classified information to the Trump administration as he accused the Obama administration of revealing the names of U.S. officials in documents gathered through foreign surveillance.
Snowden denied that he was aligning himself with Nunes generally, arguing that transparency about a memo that could impact the privacy of Americans, should be out in the open for the good of all citizens regardless of political affiliations.
Ugh, you planting your flag with @DevinNunes ?
-- Peter B (@StrangeCapn) January 19, 2018
\u201cOf course not, but when the chairman of House Intel (HPSCI) claims there's documented evidence of serious surveillance abuses, it matters. If true, the citizens must see the proof. If false, it establishes HPSCI lies and has no credibility. Either outcome benefits the public. https://t.co/IsRcR1azvP\u201d— Edward Snowden (@Edward Snowden) 1516369983
In his series of tweets, Snowden acknowledged that right-wing pundits and GOP lawmakers could very well being using the "release the memo" call as a self-serving political distraction, but said there are easy ways to test whether or not this is true:
Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Steve King (R-Iowa), both of whom have called for an end to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, are among those calling for a release of the memo.
\u201cThere is one signal that will tell you if the Republican's #ReleaseTheMemo campaign is legitimate: whether or not @RealDonaldTrump signs the FISA 702 reauth into law in the next 10 days. If he doesn't veto 702 and send it back to Congress for reform, this is nothing but politics. https://t.co/TBwt0T0lBm\u201d— Edward Snowden (@Edward Snowden) 1516371148
Meanwhile, journalist Glenn Greenwald, who reported some of the most hard-hitting stories based on the NSA documents leaked by Snowden, also joined the call for transparency even as he, too, made it clear he wasn't interested in aligning with Donald Trump Jr. or others using the demand as a cynical ploy:
Indeed, Greenwald made it clear that it remains House Republicans and President Trump himself, not Democrats, who have the clear authority to make the document public:
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Edward Snowden joined those calling for officials to release a memo that's said to have information about the government's surveillance abuses. The secrecy of the document, according to the NSA whistleblower, contributed to the reauthorization of a government spying bill narrowly approved by Congress this week.
The vote to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for six more years, which came despite the objections of privacy and civil liberties advocates, will allow the government to spy on the electronic communications of Americans without a warrant.
\u201cOfficials confirm there's a secret report showing abuses of spy law Congress voted to reauthorize this week. If this memo had been known prior to the vote, FISA reauth would have failed. These abuses must be made public, and @realDonaldTrump should send the bill back with a veto. https://t.co/BEwJ9EyIq0\u201d— Edward Snowden (@Edward Snowden) 1516366505
And the ACLU agreed:
\u201cThe Intelligence Committee memo about government surveillance abuses should have been made public and given to members of Congress before the FISA Section 702 vote.\n\nTrump must veto the bill so there can be a real debate on these powers. https://t.co/VZOLmYXdrj\u201d— ACLU (@ACLU) 1516384140
Calls to #ReleaseTheMemo have been heard largely from Republicans including Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), who was cleared by an ethics committee last month of giving classified information to the Trump administration as he accused the Obama administration of revealing the names of U.S. officials in documents gathered through foreign surveillance.
Snowden denied that he was aligning himself with Nunes generally, arguing that transparency about a memo that could impact the privacy of Americans, should be out in the open for the good of all citizens regardless of political affiliations.
Ugh, you planting your flag with @DevinNunes ?
-- Peter B (@StrangeCapn) January 19, 2018
\u201cOf course not, but when the chairman of House Intel (HPSCI) claims there's documented evidence of serious surveillance abuses, it matters. If true, the citizens must see the proof. If false, it establishes HPSCI lies and has no credibility. Either outcome benefits the public. https://t.co/IsRcR1azvP\u201d— Edward Snowden (@Edward Snowden) 1516369983
In his series of tweets, Snowden acknowledged that right-wing pundits and GOP lawmakers could very well being using the "release the memo" call as a self-serving political distraction, but said there are easy ways to test whether or not this is true:
Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Steve King (R-Iowa), both of whom have called for an end to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, are among those calling for a release of the memo.
\u201cThere is one signal that will tell you if the Republican's #ReleaseTheMemo campaign is legitimate: whether or not @RealDonaldTrump signs the FISA 702 reauth into law in the next 10 days. If he doesn't veto 702 and send it back to Congress for reform, this is nothing but politics. https://t.co/TBwt0T0lBm\u201d— Edward Snowden (@Edward Snowden) 1516371148
Meanwhile, journalist Glenn Greenwald, who reported some of the most hard-hitting stories based on the NSA documents leaked by Snowden, also joined the call for transparency even as he, too, made it clear he wasn't interested in aligning with Donald Trump Jr. or others using the demand as a cynical ploy:
Indeed, Greenwald made it clear that it remains House Republicans and President Trump himself, not Democrats, who have the clear authority to make the document public:
Edward Snowden joined those calling for officials to release a memo that's said to have information about the government's surveillance abuses. The secrecy of the document, according to the NSA whistleblower, contributed to the reauthorization of a government spying bill narrowly approved by Congress this week.
The vote to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for six more years, which came despite the objections of privacy and civil liberties advocates, will allow the government to spy on the electronic communications of Americans without a warrant.
\u201cOfficials confirm there's a secret report showing abuses of spy law Congress voted to reauthorize this week. If this memo had been known prior to the vote, FISA reauth would have failed. These abuses must be made public, and @realDonaldTrump should send the bill back with a veto. https://t.co/BEwJ9EyIq0\u201d— Edward Snowden (@Edward Snowden) 1516366505
And the ACLU agreed:
\u201cThe Intelligence Committee memo about government surveillance abuses should have been made public and given to members of Congress before the FISA Section 702 vote.\n\nTrump must veto the bill so there can be a real debate on these powers. https://t.co/VZOLmYXdrj\u201d— ACLU (@ACLU) 1516384140
Calls to #ReleaseTheMemo have been heard largely from Republicans including Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), who was cleared by an ethics committee last month of giving classified information to the Trump administration as he accused the Obama administration of revealing the names of U.S. officials in documents gathered through foreign surveillance.
Snowden denied that he was aligning himself with Nunes generally, arguing that transparency about a memo that could impact the privacy of Americans, should be out in the open for the good of all citizens regardless of political affiliations.
Ugh, you planting your flag with @DevinNunes ?
-- Peter B (@StrangeCapn) January 19, 2018
\u201cOf course not, but when the chairman of House Intel (HPSCI) claims there's documented evidence of serious surveillance abuses, it matters. If true, the citizens must see the proof. If false, it establishes HPSCI lies and has no credibility. Either outcome benefits the public. https://t.co/IsRcR1azvP\u201d— Edward Snowden (@Edward Snowden) 1516369983
In his series of tweets, Snowden acknowledged that right-wing pundits and GOP lawmakers could very well being using the "release the memo" call as a self-serving political distraction, but said there are easy ways to test whether or not this is true:
Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Steve King (R-Iowa), both of whom have called for an end to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, are among those calling for a release of the memo.
\u201cThere is one signal that will tell you if the Republican's #ReleaseTheMemo campaign is legitimate: whether or not @RealDonaldTrump signs the FISA 702 reauth into law in the next 10 days. If he doesn't veto 702 and send it back to Congress for reform, this is nothing but politics. https://t.co/TBwt0T0lBm\u201d— Edward Snowden (@Edward Snowden) 1516371148
Meanwhile, journalist Glenn Greenwald, who reported some of the most hard-hitting stories based on the NSA documents leaked by Snowden, also joined the call for transparency even as he, too, made it clear he wasn't interested in aligning with Donald Trump Jr. or others using the demand as a cynical ploy:
Indeed, Greenwald made it clear that it remains House Republicans and President Trump himself, not Democrats, who have the clear authority to make the document public:
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