Monthly Archives: May 2014

The NSA has lost the trust of the American people as a result of the Edward Snowden leaks, and needs to be more transparent to gain it back, the NSAs new director said Wednesday in his first public comments since taking control of the embattled spy agency.

I tell the [NSA] workforce out there as the new guy, lets be honest with each other, the nation has lost a measure of trust in us, Admiral Michael Rogers told a conference of the Women in Aerospace conference in Crystal City, Va.

In the future, he said, If we make a mistake, you will hear about it. Thats my job as director and I have no problem with it. We are not going to hide our mistakes.

(Also on POLITICO: Surveillance orders declined in 2013)

The whole media leaks issue as we call it, has caused quite a stir, said Rogers, who was sworn in as director of NSA and assumed command of U.S. Cyber Command at the beginning of April.

Rogers didnt lay complete responsibility at the doorstep of the NSA: He blamed public mistrust on the way the newsmedia had framed the issues raised in the Snowden revelations.

From my perspective the debate and the dialogue to date have been very uneven, he said.

Your neighbors are saying to you: Man, Ive been listening about you on the TV and reading about you in the papers and I had no idea what a bad person you are, he joked.

He said the NSA and its staff had to work to earn and sustain Americans trust, but could not be too open about the work of the ultra-secret agency, which specializes in electronic eavesdropping and other surveillance using the latest high technology.

I believe in transparency and I will be as transparent as possible, but I also have to be mindful that in doing so I cannot undermine the specifics of what were doing to protect the country, he said.

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New NSA chief: Agency has lost trust

By Gabe LaMonica, CNN

updated 11:51 AM EDT, Fri April 18, 2014

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- A Supreme Court justice Thursday night suggested the legality of National Security Agency activities could be decided by the court.

Three days after Pulitzers were awarded to newspapers that revealed the NSA's surveillance activities, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg deflected a question about Edward Snowden, who leaked NSA data.

When asked, "Do you believe that Snowden is a whistleblower or a traitor?" Ginsburg, who was joined by Justice Antonin Scalia, told an audience at the National Press Club in Washington that she could not say.

"It's also possible, is it not," she said, "that the question you raise could come before the court. And we are not at liberty to preview."

If Snowden is extradited to the United States and charged with federal crimes for his leaks, his case could come before the court.

In June of 2013, The Guardian and The Washington Post published reports that revealed the NSA's bulk collection of U.S. citizens' phone records and other clandestine surveillance activities. That sparked a firestorm concerning Fourth Amendment protections for U.S. citizens from "unreasonable searches and seizures" and the issue of where that protection weighs in the balance between national security and personal privacy.

On Thursday, the two justices were asked whether The Post deserved the highest accolade in journalism, a gold medal for public service administered by Columbia University in New York City for nearly 100 years.

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Supreme Court could weigh in on NSA case, justice says