NSA Illegal Surveillance - Salt Lake City - 2002 Olympics - Lawsuit

Kristin Murphy/Deseret News, File Photo Rocky Anderson to file suit against NSA for 'criminal' surveillance during Olympics By Angie H. Treasure   |  Posted Aug 12th, 2015 @ 8:12pm SALT LAKE CITY — Former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson is asking for the public's help in filing claims against the National Security Agency for what he called the "illegal" and "criminal" gathering of information during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. In an interview with KSL NewsRadio, Anderson said he first became aware of the alleged surveillance when he read an article detailing the NSA's activity in the Wall Street Journal in 2013. The publication disclosed that every phone call and text message in Salt Lake City was subject to surveillance by the NSA and FBI before and during the 2002 Olympic Games held in Utah. The Olympic games took place less than six months after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. "Every bit of it was illegal. It was a criminal act," Anderson said. "Every instance was a criminal act and a massive violation of our constitution and other domestic laws." Anderson said he had since spoken with a source who worked within the NSA at the time of the Olympics, and said the truth is even worse than the Wall Street Journal alleges. According to the source, not only was the greater Salt Lake City area under NSA surveillance, but the areas surrounding all the Olympic venues were being watched, meaning that the NSA was collecting information on all the calls made, how long they lasted and what numbers were involved. Anderson said his source also claimed that the NSA targeted specific people and recorded their conversations. "Here's how this man put it to me: They saw this as a golden opportunity to put a security cone over an entire geographic area and grab everything. And he said they did it all outside the Fourth Amendment, outside the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act," said Anderson. "Now think of this," Anderson said. "All of it without a warrant, all of it without probable cause. It is absolutely unprecedented in our nation's history." It's what Anderson's website calls "The most massive, indiscriminate, illegal spying on the contents of communications in United States history." "It used to be that we'd looked at what the Stasi did in East Germany, or what the KGB did in the Soviet Union and we would be appalled," Anderson said. "We would never stand for that from our government. We, the people, would stand up against that. And the fact is, we the people are not standing up. And that's why, in large part, I'm pursuing this now." "It used to be that we'd looked at what the Stasi did in East Germany, or what the KGB did in the Soviet Union and we would be appalled. We would never stand for that from our government. We, the people, would stand up against that. And the fact is, we the people are not standing up. And that's why, in large part, I'm pursuing this now." –Rocky Anderson Anderson said that his pursuit of a lawsuit is a way to prevent further surveillance of this kind from happening in the future. "We can't let complacency set in to the point where we're clearing the path toward greater totalitarianism," said Anderson. The lawsuit is about reversing the behavior before it becomes an irreversible trend, according to Anderson. "A lot of people say, oh, you're doing it for the fees. Believe me," Anderson said, "I would've been happy just being a plaintiff. I tried to get other organizations to handle this case." Although the statute of limitations for this kind of lawsuit is usually two years, the timeline has been delayed in light of the 2013 Wall Street Journal article. Anderson is asking that the public step forward and file claims. From Anderson's website: "If, during the period of approximately Oct. 1, 2001, to February 28, 2002, you sent or received emails or text messages or engaged in telephone calls while you or the other person to the communication was in Salt Lake City or an area near another Olympic venue, your communications were likely illegally and unconstitutionally surveilled, intercepted, and analyzed by the FBI and/or NSA. If that is the case, then you are likely entitled to the recovery of money damages."     Stand up for accountability for illegal spying and for rule of law. Description and claim forms: http://t.co/60KcuQqDjc Urgent. File now! RT     — Rocky Anderson (@RockyAnderson) August 12, 2015 Those damages, according to one statute cited by Anderson, could pay up to a minimum of $10,000 in damages to each person who has received this kind of violation of the law. Anderson is asking that people go to his website, fill out five documents and bring them to the Winder & Counsel offices at 460 S. 400 East in Salt Lake City by Monday, Aug. 17, to be filed. Anderson added that he tried to speak to the head of public affairs at the NSA last week and when he asked her about the allegations in the Wall Street Journal article, he was told she was aware of them but that she did not admit, deny, nor would she discuss them. The former mayor hopes that people will join him in the lawsuit, saying, "The government should fear the people, not the people fearing the government." Contributing: Mary Richards http://www.ksl.com/?sid=35936923&nid=148&fm=most_popular&s_cid=popular-8 ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- COMMENT Not sure if I've posted this earlier.  If I have, here it is again.  lol The Google search box widget isn't doing its thing for me and I'm finding it hard to keep track of what I've posted so far. Thought NSA getting sued and resistance to surveillance and totalitarianism was post worthy. The links are there for anyone in that region who wants to join the suit for damages and effort to curb future civil liberties incursions. Law needs to be amended regarding that statute of limitations.  An extension to something like 30 years sounds good.  lol ꕤ

Assange is the Target of Powers he has Challenged

On Forthcoming Opinion Piece 18 August 2015 23:00 BST Mr Assange’s representatives understand that the Guardian is about to publish an ’opinion column’ by US Guardian blogger and polemicist Jessica Valenti, based on materials provided by parties in Sweden attempting to extradite Mr Assange. These include an interview between the alleged complainant, referred to by the prosecutor as ’SW’, and Valenti. Mr Assange’s representatives have asked the Guardian to present a "right of reply" statement appended to the article, but the Guardian declined, as opinion pieces are not subject to the same editorial standards as news articles. Although Mr Assange’s representatives have not been shown the article, in the interest of accuracy, journalists reproducing or reporting about the piece, and the public in general, should note the following facts: 1) Julian Assange has not been charged at any time. 2) Julian Assange was cleared of ’rape’ five years ago: On 21 August 2010 the Chief Prosecutor Eva Finne stated she "made the assessment that the evidence did not disclose any offence of rape". On 25 August 2010 she stated that "The conduct alleged by SW disclosed no crime at all and that file (K246314-10) would be closed." The case was then closed. The matter was subsequently re-opened with a different prosecutor after the intervention of a senior Swedish politician, Claes Borgstrom, during the heat of Mr Assange’s conflict with the United States. The new ’preliminary investigation’ has been in stasis since 2010 and has not issued a finding. Mr Assange has not been asked a single question. That an extradition warrant was issued for him under such circumstances has been the subject of serious debate and led to the UK Parliament changing the law in 2014 to ban further cases of "extradition without charge". 3) It is on record that Swedish authorities unlawfully disclosed the identities of Julian Assange and the alleged complainants to the Swedish tabloid press, damaging their reputations and exposing them to vilification. 4) The US states that there is a pending prosecution against Julian Assange for espionage and other offences related to his WikiLeaks publications. The US grand jury against him was launched six months prior to his visit to Sweden. He was granted political asylum in relation to political persecution by the United States. The United Kingdom and Sweden have refused to provide an assurance that he will not be transferred to the United States. 5) ’SW’ felt she was "railroaded by police and others around her": Her SMS messages from the day of the police visit and immediately after, held by the Swedish authorities, state that she "did not want to put any charges on JA but that the police were keen on grabbing him" (14:26); and that she was “shocked when they arrested JA because she only wanted him to take a test” (17:06); that she “did not want to accuse JA for anything”; and at 22:25 that “it was the police who made up the charges”. This is corroborated by witness statements taken by Swedish authorities from friends of ’SW’, Marie Thorn and Hanna Rosquist. These statements include SW stating that she felt she had been "railroaded by police and others around her”. 6) The prosecution formally admitted that ’SW’ did not intend to make a complaint and only sought advice about STD tests: "After AA and SW spoke to each other and realised that they had both had intercourse with [JA] during the currency of his visit in circumstances where respectively they had or might have been or become unprotected against disease or pregnancy, SW wanted [JA] to get tested for disease. On 20 August 2010 SW went to the police to seek advice." (Agreed Statement of Facts to the UK Supreme Court, 2012) 7) Why is this relevant now? In the past two months there have been almost unanimous calls from Swedish jurists, former prosecutors and the editor of Sweden’s top legal journal criticising Swedish prosecutor Marianne Ny, and even suggesting that she be removed. The United Nations body on Arbitrary Detention, the WGAD, is also about to rule on the case of his continuing detention without charge. So sensitive has the matter become that out of the 34 press releases on the Swedish Prosecution Authority’s website, 29 are about Julian Assange. In November 2014 the Swedish Court of Appeal found that the prosecutor was in breach of her duty to progress an investigation expeditiously and at minimum inconvenience and suspicion to the suspect by refusing to take Julian Assange’s statement over the last 4.5 years. As a result of this breach, last week three misdemeanor allegations expired. Sweden’s legal community is practically unanimous that the Assange case has been mishandled and driven by the prosecutor’s attempts to save face. The Secretary General of the Swedish Bar Association Anne Ramberg has said: "The Assange story has become a less than flattering adventure not only for the English courts’ handling of the case, but also for the Swedish prosecutor". Svante Thorsell, an eminent defence lawyer and columnist, wrote that: "Something is rotten in the Assange case... the prosecutor’s passivity in this case is a crime against decency." Former prosecutor Rolf Hillegren has called for her removal, stating that Julian Assange has been "discriminated against". The editor of the Law journal Dagens Juridik, Stefan Wahlberg, told Swedish Radio that "the bottom line is it’s the prosecutor who has the responsibility, no one else!" and that "Prestige has played a big part." https://justice4assange.com/On-forthcoming-opinion-piece.html ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- COMMENT Above is hot off the press, or near enough. Guessing this 'opinion' piece is destined to be an anti-Assange propaganda piece of some kind. Notably, Assange has been denied a right of reply. In my opinion, the latest offering most probably amounts to a pre-arranged, 'trojan' press assault 'opinion' piece, much like those 'independent' NGO opinion pieces the propaganda churning Western press runs whenever they wish to especially smear official enemies. It shall be presented as a suitably emotive (and divisive) ... but delicately, 'gift-wrapped' appeal to dominant ideology and to 'justice,' one would guess. Aside from casting doubts and aspersions, the PR job will light up more of the same extraneous 'issues' debate that the public never seems to tire of. Most likely this will be a further attempt to divert attention to the official narrative (Hey, how dare Ecuador grant political asylum to a politically persecuted journalist!). Suspect that the aggressive British media campaign is a lead-up to some official assault on the rights of Assange. Somebody's got out what I suspect must be the go-to propaganda big guns in any scenario such as this. The Guardian 'opinion' piece writer is ... "Jessica Valenti is a columnist and staff writer for Guardian US. She is the author of four books on feminism, politics and culture, and founder of Feministing.com" Oh, dear.  So the intended target is probably about to become the recipient of a double-barrelled public assault.  Guessing there's a portrayal of 'female victimhood' - perhaps blended with 'courage' - that's championed by a feminist writer calling for 'justice', that's coming up for public consumption? I could be wrong, but I'm going to carry on with my predictions and see how I go at guessing the 'news'. Taking a wild guess, this 'opinion' piece is going to be the unseen power behind the 'female victim'-shield equivalent of holding up a vial of water at the United Nations Security Council (or, The Guardian readership court of public opinion), and declaring:  Assange has weapons of mass destruction & we must act! ... or something like that.  Yes, I can just see it now:  for the sake of world security, democracy, freedom, justice, womanhood, God, and apple pie – we must invade the Ecuador embassy. The trojan (containing the potent 'female victim' championed by feminist payload) will be used by whoever has arranged this, to further the government agenda - ie the interests of the powers that Assange and WikiLeaks have challenged. Presumably the government agenda is shepherding public opinion in the direction of acceptance and approval of the politically motivated, 5 year de facto imprisonment of Julian Assange or, at least, distracting from the glaring evidence that this is a blatantly politically-motivated detention of a truth-telling journalist by a sociopathic, totalitarian government, that has shown nothing but contempt for democracy and the law. Whoever has arranged this coming media hatchet job will be manipulating public attention and opinion. It's worth considering that over the last 5 years the media has largely presented, and often repeated, the government narrative:  while failing to address inconsistencies in that narrative.  So it's not like the aggressive British media campaign is coming from a necessity to redress media imbalance.  Nope.  It's an aggressive campaign aimed at pulling the wool over the public's eyes, when the public just may be in danger of waking up to what the 5 years of no charge detention is really for and why there's been millions of pounds/euros/dollars spent on this Embassy siege. In wider terms, this isn't merely an assault on Assange:  this is also an assault on justice (and a trial by media); it is an assault on international law (Assange has been granted political asylum); an assault on freedom of press; and an assault on civil liberties ... aided and abetted by corporate media hyenas. So, where Sweden has seen fit to avoid interviewing Assange regarding their flimsy 'allegations,' he is now to be tried by the media - without charge. But trial by media is nothing new; it's just more of the same.  Only perhaps a little nastier this time around. Through sleight of hand and in the guise of acting in the interests of: 'female victimhood' and 'feminism,' the latest media performance piece is most likely aimed at smearing Assange and putting across an impression that seeks to 'validate' the government narrative, while potentially dividing public opinion and, with any luck, eroding public support. The divide and conquer method of dealing with political targets is probably as old as society itself.  But it does smack of the manipulation, disinformation, and disruption style government-run 'social engineering' campaigns we've learned of more recently from the Snowden documents. The forthcoming PR job probably aims to shift or divert attention away from what has become apparent after 5 years of no charge detention amid Swedish long-term inaction to the point of Sweden failing to question Assange prior to the arrival of statute of limitation lapse:  ie. the fact that the Swedish and British government narrative is unsound. British, Swedish, & US powers are practically joined at the hip in terms of political agenda, trade, military, and intelligence sharing. Thus they represent a close political and practical alliance within the broader US-Anglo coalition. And it is this very coalition's war crimes, wrongdoings, lawlessness, hypocrisy, and contempt for justice and democracy, that were exposed by Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. Julian Assange is the target of powers he has challenged. I don't believe for one moment that he has sexually assaulted anyone, irrespective of would-be claimants to the 'victim' title that the authorities line up PR 'advocates' for. The Anglo-American and Swedish coalition is capable of stooping to just about anything: mass unconstitutional surveillance surveillance of entire countries CIA torture CIA black sites CIA rendition (kidnap & illegal transfer) from Sweden military invasion on false pretexts killings of many thousands of civilians the concealment of these civilian killings the use of air-strike to conceal murder of civilians deliberately misleading parliament over a proposed ban on cluster bombs (United Kingdom) No amount of corporate press hyena 'opinion' presentations or plays on public emotion (seeking to sow misplaced sympathy, doubt, confusion etc), will ever fool anyone who looks at the facts. Meanwhile, the life of Julian Assange hangs in the balance, as Britain and Sweden grimly press for extradition that would will see a journalist who exposed US and allied war crimes delivered by war criminals to war criminals. So where is this 'pillar of democracy', the 'free press'? It is silent and in the service of powerful interests. 'The dangerous cult of the Guardian' Jonathan Cooke Article 'Right of Reply' Denied [  source | slate | here  ] [  source | slate | here  ] [Excuse the repetition above ... I'm not a writer.  lol]  Please Support journalist-publisher Julian Assange Under Siege Ecuador embassy London (3 Years) Detained 5 Years No Charge POLITICAL PERSECUTION FAQ & Support LINK:  https://justice4assange.com/ ꕤ

Transcript - BBC Video - 17 December 2010 - Assange Interview Clip - Ellingham Hall

VIDEO  |  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPMnddMEqn8 17 December 2010  | BBC TRANSCRIPT [For quotation purposes, confirm audio] BBC Presenter Now, Julian Assange who was released on bail yesterday says WikiLeaks will continue to publish the leaked US diplomatic cables, despite the pressure being applied to him. He spoke to journalists this lunchtime at Ellingham Hall in Norfolk, where he is staying until his extradition hearing. Julian Assange, WikiLeaks Over the last 4 years we have published material from over 120 countries. It is our normal business to publish banks - information about banks - and we have been attacked. Primarily not by government - primarily, in fact, not by the US government (or things are heating up now) - but, in fact, by banks: banks from Dubai, banks from Switzerland, banks from the United States, banks from the UK. So, yes, of course, we are continuing to release material about banks. Reporter (male) Julian, you were saying before the WikiLeaks website is under attack, can you expand on that a bit more. Eight-five percent of traffic proved [??] was trying to close it down, is that correct? Julian Assange, WikiLeaks Well, I have been out of touch. I have been in a black hole for 10 days. I received - the last newspaper I read before coming here this morning -  [cough] - was the London Express from last Thursday, so perhaps you are talking about something that I am unaware of.   But over 85% of our economic resources are spent with dealing with attacks: dealing with technical attacks, dealing with political attacks, dealing with legal attacks - not doing journalism. And that, if you like, is attacks upon the best quality investigative journalism, and 85% tax rate on that kind of economic activity, whereas people who are producing celebrity pieces for Vanity Fair have a much lower tax rate. Reporter (male) And how is it easy to look after the website when you're staged up in a house in Norfolk. Can you operate from here? Julian Assange, WikiLeaks Well, people like to present WikiLeaks as just me and my backpack. It is not true. We're a relatively large organisation. The permanent staff is relatively small [whereas?] in the Cablegate we had about 24 full-time staff [cough]. But it is resilient. It is designed to withstand decapitation attacks, and our publishing rate actually increased over the time that I was in solitary confinement and we see even today, [in] our British media partner, The Guardian, [the] latest story coming out of these cables. India's accused of systemic use of torture. Over 1,000 reports made to the Red Cross. Over 600 of those concerning serious torture in Kashmir, by the Indian government [inaudible]. [end clip 2:55 / 2:58] Ellingham Hall "Ellingham Hall, the site of Julian Assange's "mansion arrest" until his next court appearance on January 11, seen here, sits on a 650-acre estate a little more than 100 miles northeast of London. His conditional bail requires that he remain at Ellingham Hall, as well as check in daily with police, wear an ankle monitor and observe a curfew."  [CBS]  ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- COMMENT Picked a random short video from 2010, to check out what was going on circa the Assange arrest. Really surprised to see the clip is about bank attacks, rather than a massive US government take-down via authorities in Sweden.   What, how could I get it so wrong? After 5 years of detention, including a 3 year siege, there's more to this than bank attacks.  But maybe that wasn't apparent at the time?  Don't know.  Haven't seen enough 2010 footage to judge.   Don't know how much of that sort of thing I'll be looking at, as it's quite time consuming - if you bother to make a record of it. So, US diplomatic cables were being published at the time. Interesting how the organisation is under constant attacks, chewing up enormous resources. What's appalling is that proper journalism is taxed at a huge 85% rate, where as fluff is taxed at some lower level. Eighty-five percent tax on any organisation sounds more like robbery than tax to me. ꕤ

Let the Caged Bird Sing

Let the Caged Bird Sing Alabama 3 ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Link   |   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdQP8iZX9Hs ⟴ Bring the Sick Bucket ⟴ USA Threatens Sovereign Nations ⟴ USA Seeks to Influence Foreign Court Cases ⟴ USA Even Targets United Nations Mamma Mia ⟴ How Could Sweden Refuse A Staring Role in the Allegations Farce? ⟴ [  source | slate | here  ] ⟴  WikiLeaks Collateral Murder Video IRAQ [ SunshinePress | Video Upload | here ]   ⟴ WikiLeaks War Crimes Exposed IRAQ & AFGHANISTAN [ Slate | Article  |  here ] Arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange 7 December 2010 Gates said it sounded good to him." Uploaded on 7 Dec 2010 Defence Secretary Robert Gates Afghanistan COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Robert Gates airforce |  recruited CIA 1966 Strategic Air Command as an intelligence officer intelligence briefings rejoined the CIA as an intelligence analyst left the CIA in 1974 > staff of National Security Council returned to the CIA in late 1979 [ Gates nominated as Director of CIA  1987 Withdrew his name after it became clear the Senate would reject the nomination due to controversy about his role in the Iran-Contra affair. ]  1991 -  nominated 2nd time by Pres George H. W. Bush confirmed & sworn Director of CIA (under President George H. W. Bush) "...former division chief Melvin Goodman testified that the agency was the most corrupt and slanted during the tenure of William Casey with Gates serving as Deputy. According to Goodman, Gates was part of an agency leadership that proliferated false information and ignored 'reality'. National Intelligence Council chairman Harold P. Ford testified that during his tenure, Gates had transgressed professional boundaries" close to many figures who played significant roles in the Iran-Contra Affair and was in a position to have known of their activities. served for 26 years in CIA and the National Security Council MA history Indiana Uni 1966 PhD in Russian & Soviet history | Georgetown Uni in 1974 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Gates I'm going to hazard a guess and say that US Secretary of Defence & CIA man Robert Gates knew exactly what kind of predicament Julian Assange was in when he was arrested on those rather handy Sweden police 'sexual misconduct' allegations  on 7 Dec. 2010.  Mood Music for this Post ⟴ Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Red Right Hand COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Mood Music for this Post source  |   https://youtu.be/RrxePKps87k United States Calls to Assassinate ⟴ Julian Assange COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. (Applicable re video: Above & Below) ⟴ USA Designates Assange & WikiLeaks 'Enemies of the State' COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. (Applicable re video: Above & Below) "The US military has designated Julian Assange and WikiLeaks as enemies of the United States - the same legal category as the al-Qaeda terrorist network and the Taliban insurgency. Declassified US Air Force counter-intelligence documents, released under US freedom-of-information laws, reveal that military personnel who contact WikiLeaks or WikiLeaks supporters may be at risk of being charged with "communicating with the enemy", a military crime that carries a maximum sentence of death. The documents, some originally classified "Secret/NoForn" - not releasable to non-US nationals - record a probe by the air force's Office of Special Investigations into a cyber systems analyst based in Britain who allegedly expressed support for WikiLeaks and attended pro-Assange demonstrations in London..." source  |  here ⟴ ꕤ

Thomas Drake Interview - Transcripts - Series of Five (5)

Espionage Act Case USA (One of Few) Thomas Drake US Air Force / short stint CIA  /  US Navy veteran ex NSA / computers / whistleblower   "I flew in RC-135s, listening in on the Warsaw Pact. I became--the target country in which I became an expert as a crypto linguist was East Germany." " ... says he was targeted by the NSA because he exposed that the agency had intel that could have prevented the 9/11 attacks and because he blew the whistle on a massive secret surveillance program aimed at Americans -   August 2, 2015" "In 2010 the government alleged that he 'mishandled' documents, one of the few such Espionage Act cases in U.S. history. His defenders claim that he was instead being persecuted for challenging the Trailblazer Project."  [therealnews] Transcript Interview #1 - http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=14393 Transcript Interview #2 - http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=14395 Transcript Interview #3 - http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=14399 Transcript Interview #4 - http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=14405 Transcript Interview #5 - http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=14423 ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- SUMMARY Part 1 NSA Key stakeholder = Congress, particularly the intelligence committees   Raised objections to NSA having knowledge re  9/11 & not making use of that knowledge to prevent 9/11 Objections internal - then public. Waste of multibillion-dollar mass surveillance program / he thought violated the Fourth Amendment USA - dragnet electronic surveillance indicted whistleblower  /  no prison NSA - had 9/11 knowledge  / at issue what NSA actually knew what they should have known what they didn't share what they kept hidden info they never even discovered until later   "I consider NSA quite culpable.  ... extraordinarily culpable. And they've been covering up their culpability ever since" *NSA did not not share intel properly with national command authorities massive multibillion-dollar fraud   mass surveillance regime put into place in the deepest of secrecy NSA didn't like Drake 'speaking truth to power" - witness various investigations. 2007 FBI raid of house and office (National Defence University). Indictment   "I was very publicly indicted on a ten felony count indictment, five under the Espionage Act, facing 35 years in prison." April 2010 was an exciting month: April 5th, 2010 - here WikiLeaks releases Collateral Murder video April 15, 2010 - here Thomas Drake indicted "DRAKE:  My eyes were wide open coming into NSA. Some people have this idea that somehow I was naive coming into NSA. In fact, I was actually--my sanity was questioned as to whether or not I really wanted to join NSA. JAY: And your first day of the NSA is actually 9/11. DRAKE: First day I reported. I actually took the oath prior. It was all in processing. But the first day that I reported to my new job was the morning of 9/11." Post 9/11 US govt operating in equivalent of secret marital law "verbal authority from the White House, authorizing NSA to start spying on the U.S. on an extraordinary scale, starting with phone numbers and special arrangements of certain telephone companies, starting with AT&T" " ... eyewitness to the subversion of the Constitution. " Oath to defend "Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic." [NSA] "... had what they call cast-iron coverage on the Yemeni switchboard, the safe house. They'd been monitoring that safe house since at least 1996. It's an absolute lie of the U.S. government to say that we didn't know about the two hijackers in San Diego, for example. Absolute lie." "... when confronted with the prospect of fessing up, NSA chose instead to obstruct the 9/11 congressional investigation, play dumb, and keep the truth buried, including the fact that it knew about all inbound and outbound calls to the safe house switchboard in Yemen. " ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- COMMENT That's it for my lame summary. I'm not really into the 9/11 stuff and I'm not up for the summary of another 4 parts of the interview. Thought it was good to post here for anybody who might be more interested than I am. Might just quickly skim a few more bits of the interviews to see if there's anything earth-shattering in them that I might otherwise miss.  lol ꕤ

PageLink-Intel - NZSIS - Security Intelligence Services

NZSIS NEW ZEALAND 2015 budget:  NZ$50.6 million New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS or SIS) See also:  Foreign intel - GCSB - here Hon Christopher Finlayson, Attorney-General- here civilian intel and security org based Wellington branches Auckland & Christchurch MAIN DOMESTIC & COUNTER-INTEL cooperates with several other Western intel agencies {see UKUSA Agreement} - incl. Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) British MI5 Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Head:  Director of Security Oversight: Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Intelligence and Security Committee Reports to:  a Cabinet minister with responsibility for intelligence (traditionally the Prime Minister) est. 1956 response Petrov Affair (Russia spy activities) Modelled on British MI5 no law enforcement / but limited powers to intercept communications and search residences purpose:  advisory provides info on threats to national security or national interests internal security measures > responsible for performing checks on govt employees who require security clearance investigates threats to security cooperates w/ other agencies within govt / so intel it collects is actioned and threats which have been identified are disrupted collects foreign intel provides range of protective security advice and services to govt 2007 - reportedly sought organised crime fighting role expansion --- involved in a number of public incidents and controversies eg. list of 20 "subversives" / apartheid protesters - rugby (1980s) failed to detect French DGSE op -  bombed Greenpeace vessel, Rainbow Warrior /  killing a photographer 2008 - Christchurch, Rob Gilchrist spying on peace organisations and individuals  including Greenpeace, Iraq war protestors, animal rights and climate change campaigners. Rob Gilchrist confessed to the allegations after his then partner, Rochelle Rees (Labour party activist & animal rights campaigner). emails exchanged b/w Gilchrist and Special Investigation Group (SIG) officers (SIG has a connection with the SIS). Gilchrist said to have: passed on info to SIG officers been paid up to $600 a week by police for spying on NZ citizens SIG contacts Detective Peter Gilroy Detective Senior Sergeant John Sjoberg Gilchrist reported to have been spying for NZ police for at least 10 years. Gilchrist said he was offered money by  Thomson Clark Investigations  to spy on the Save Happy Valley Coalition, an environmental group. NOTE By implication, NZ political parties were spied on  under guise of 'terrorism threats to national security'. 2009:  SIS - asking university staff to report their colleagues or students if they were behaving suspiciously - said it was part of an effort to prevent the spread of 'weapons of mass destruction.' 2011:  SIS involved in investigation of Israeli backpackers.  Israelis were alleged to have been Mossad agents attempting. Mossad allegedly seeking toinfiltrate NZ govt computer databases and steal sensitive info.   Subsequent investigation reportedly concluded:  no evidence of Mossad. --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_Security_Intelligence_Service ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- 2014 Reforms enable NZSIS: ꕤ. to monitor any terrorist suspects for 24 hours without a warrant. [here] ꕤ. to conduct video surveillance on private property in cases of suspected terrorism. [here] ꕤ

PageLink-Intel - GCSB, New Zealand - Government Communications Security Bureau

GCSB NEW ZEALAND FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE (See also:  Domestic Intel - NZSIS - Security Intelligence Services - here) Hon Christopher Finlayson, Attorney-General- here 2015/16 the budget: $89.6 million Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) national security part of ECHELON see Nicky Hager, writer (book) David Lange { report released in error } - Targets of GCSB: Japan, Philippines, Argentina, France, Vietnam, + many small Pacific island states. + United Nations diplomatic traffic. Two listening stations + Secret Post + Southern Cross fibre-optic cable: Waihopai Station 1) SATELLITE communications interception station - Waihopai (near Blenheim) Part of ECHELON intercepts and processes all phone calls, faxes, e-mail and computer data communications. Tangimoana Station 2) RADIO communications interception station at GCSB Tangimoana (near Palmerston North) Part of ECHELON 3) Secret listening post codenamed "Caprica" - NZ High Commission in Honiara, Solomon Islands 4) Southern Cross Cable 95% international internet access point Construction & Ownership 1999: laid by the ship 'CS Vercors' Spark New Zealand (50.01%) SingTel (39.99%) Verizon Business (10.00%) mass surveillance - internet & phone traffic - 95% all NZ traffic (part trans-Pacific network of telecommunications cables) operated by Bermuda company Southern Cross Cables Limited Southern Cross Cables Limited asked NSA to pay them for MASS SURVEILLANCE allows government to spy on all phone calls and internet traffic from New Zealand  { NZ govt denies & claims merely negotiation w/ NSA } collection and processing of intel distribution of intel information assurance | cyber security Signals Intelligence Communications Security Anti-Bugging Measures Computer / IT security technology Foreign intelligence Assistance to other NZ govt agencies GCSB reports to the minister holding the Intelligence portfolio by convention: always the Prime Minister * Illegal surveillance of Kim Dotcom Shortly before Fletcher (head GCSB) was appointed, the GCSB illegally spied on Kim Dotcom, a German national but New Zealand resident. By law the agency cannot spy on New Zealand residents. The GCSB admitted that Hugh Wolfensohn, acting director at the time, knew the organisation was spying on Dotcom. Kitteridge Report *may have unlawfully spied on up to 85 ppl b/w April 2003 and Sept 2012 (Kitteridge report, leaked - Rebecca Kitteridge, Cabinet Secretary) Ian Fletcher (former diplomat) = Director GCSB controversy re appointment (forgotten friend of John keys) ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- SOURCE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Communications_Security_Bureau https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Cross_Cable ꕤ