Letter And Official Responses
A senior Democratic lawmaker with access to some of the U.S. government’s most closely held intelligence has said he has “deep concerns” about certain activities by the Central Intelligence Agency, without describing what those activities are. Sen. Ron Wyden, the longest-serving member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, made the statement in a two-line letter that did not spell out the nature of his concerns.
In a statement cited by the Wall Street Journal’s Dustin Volz, the CIA said it was “ironic but unsurprising that Senator Wyden is unhappy,” and described the situation as a “badge of honor.” When contacted by TechCrunch, a spokesperson for Wyden’s office said they could not comment because the matter is classified.
Wyden’s Oversight Role And Access
Wyden is tasked with overseeing the U.S. intelligence community and is one of a small number of lawmakers allowed to review highly classified information about ongoing surveillance, including cyber and other intelligence operations. Because these programs are classified, he is barred from sharing details with the public or with most other members of Congress, and can discuss them only with a limited number of Senate staff who hold security clearances.
As a result, Wyden, who is known for his focus on privacy issues, has become one of the few members of Congress whose public statements about intelligence and surveillance are closely followed by civil liberties groups. His comments often signal concerns without providing specifics.
Pattern Of Public Warnings
Over the past several years, Wyden has repeatedly issued public warnings about secret rulings or intelligence practices that he has suggested could be unlawful or unconstitutional. In 2011, he said the U.S. government was relying on a secret interpretation of the Patriot Act that created what he described as a gap between what the public thought the law said and what the government believed it allowed.
Two years later, former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA had been using a secret interpretation of the Patriot Act to require U.S. phone companies, including Verizon, to turn over the call records of hundreds of millions of Americans on an ongoing basis.
Earlier Disclosures And Ongoing Secrecy
Since that time, Wyden has raised concerns about how the U.S. government collects the contents of people’s communications, disclosed that the Justice Department had barred Apple and Google from telling users that federal authorities were demanding the contents of push notifications, and said that an unclassified report that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has declined to release contains what he called “shocking details” about national security threats facing U.S. phone companies.
Techdirt’s Mike Masnick has noted that the public may not yet know what prompted Wyden’s latest warning about the CIA, but in previous cases his alerts have preceded later disclosures that confirmed the issues he had hinted at.
Featured image credits: Heute.at
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