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House Democrat After Meeting With Counterterrorism Officials: NSA Revelations Only “The Tip Of The Iceberg,” There Is “Significantly More Than What Is Out In The Media Today”

Sanchez is a complete hack and seems to be lacking in intelligence. I'm guessing most everything "astounds" her. Still, she seems to have picked up that many other lawmakers were also disturbed.

From The Hill:

The federal surveillance programs revealed in media reports are just “the tip of the iceberg,” a House Democrat said Wednesday.

Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) said lawmakers learned “significantly more” about the spy programs at the National Security Agency (NSA) during a briefing on Tuesday with counterterrorism officials.

“What we learned in there,” Sanchez said, “is significantly more than what is out in the media today.”

Lawmakers are barred from revealing the classified information they receive in intelligence briefings, and Sanchez was careful not to specify what members might have learned about the NSA’s work.

“I can’t speak to what we learned in there, and I don’t know if there are other leaks, if there’s more information somewhere, if somebody else is going to step up, but I will tell you that I believe it’s the tip of the iceberg,” she said.

The briefing was meant to convince lawmakers that the surveillance programs are legal and necessary in fighting counterterrorism — an argument President Obama and other administration officials have made.

Lawmakers demanded the briefings after revelations last week about the NSA's collection of phone records and Internet data, and Sanchez said lawmakers were "astounded" by what they heard.

Meanwhile,

NSA Leaker Edward Snowden on Obama’s NSA: “I Am Here to Reveal Criminality”

Snowden has yet to reveal much of anything, however.

Gabriel Malor at Ace of Spades has a very informative article on what we have and HAVE NOT LEARNED from the NSA Leaks:

The contours of at least one of the NSA programs has gotten a lot clearer. The cell phone metadata warrants were issued pursuant to USA PATRIOT Act sec. 215, also known as the "business records provision" or, for civil libertarians during Bush 43's years, the "library records provision." The cell metadata program has been confirmed to the public -- that is, we've seen an authentic court order with respect to Verizon and been reliably informed that the other major cell carriers have also been subject to those orders, and for many years.
And though the cell metadata collection goes back to the Bush Administration, the use of section 215 has been greatly expanded by the Obama government.

The ACLU, a Verizon customer, is suing to shut down the cell metadata collection and to force NSA to destroy all records that it has obtained under the cell metadata program. ACLU complains (PDF) that the program violates section 215, as well as the First and Fourth Amendments.

Unlike the cell metadata program, however, the details of PRISM continue to be disputed. Edward Snowden remains the sole source to claim that the program allows NSA to "directly and unilaterally seize" internet communications off the companies' servers and that the program is directed against Americans. Those allegations have been denied by both DNI Clapper and by each of the companies allegedly involved. They've also been denied by undisclosed sources to the papers, although we've gotta weigh the fact that they won't allow their names to be used.

As far as on-the-record deinals go, both Clapper (PDF) and the companies have indicated that PRISM is the way that these companies comply with court orders to provide the content of internet communications in international terrorism cases under FISA sec. 702,

NYTimes reported that one of the ways the companies were approached by NSA to operate PRISM was by means of a digital "lock box" or "clean room" on the companies' servers. The companies, upon receiving a court order, would deposit the requested communications in the secure lock box, which NSA could then access remotely.

Yesterday, Google outright rejected the lock box possibility, at least with respect to itself, and admitted that it complies with 702 orders by means of a simple secure FTP. Google -- later joined by Facebook and Microsoft -- also asked DOJ to give it permission to publicly discuss how it complies with FISA orders, so as to clear its name of the charge that it provided NSA with "unilateral" access to the content on its servers.

In short, we have one confirmed case of NSA indiscriminately targeting Americans over the course of many years -- the cell metadata story. We have another sensational, and unconfirmed (to put it mildly) allegation that NSA is taking data right off the servers of the biggest internet companies. The second story is alarming, but too vague and uncorroborated for me to simply take Ed Snowden's word for it.

AND THEN THERE'S THIS:

27 Edward Snowden Quotes About U.S. Government Spying That Should Send A Chill Up Your Spine

- Does The 4th Amendment Guarantee The Right To Be Secure In Your Data And Metadata?
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly...

- White House Tries To Prevent Judge From Ruling On The Constitutionality Of Nsa Surveillance
They say it's Constitutional, but they don't want Judges to consider it's Constitutionality. Executive Branch Privilege, I guess. WASHINGTON — The Obama administration moved late Friday to prevent a federal judge in California from ruling...

- Judge Throws Out ‘state Secrets’ Claim, Allowing Lawsuit Against Nsa To Continue
From Will at THE OTHER NEWS: Judge throws out ‘state secrets’ claim, allowing lawsuit against NSA to continue.HT:RussiaToday. The suit, known as Jewel vs. National Security Agency, was originally filed in 2008 by the Electronic Frontier Foundation...

- Is The Anything The Least Bit Surprising About This: U.s. Agencies Said To Swap Data With Thousands Of Firms
Bloomberg:Thousands of technology, finance and manufacturing companies are working closely with U.S. national security agencies, providing sensitive information and in return receiving benefits that include access to classified intelligence, four people...

- Obama Doj Fights Release Of Secret Court Opinion Finding Domestic Surveillance Is Unconstitutional
They knew it was UnConstitutional and they did it anyway. Why, that's downright FASCIST! From Mother Jones: In the midst of revelations that the government has conducted extensive top-secret surveillance operations to collect domestic phone...

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