Yes, The CIA Spied On Congress • Hacker News Board

Re: Yes, The CIA Spied On Congress

#11

Post by discardorama » Thu, Mar 06, 2014, 4:19 AM UTC

baddox wrote: post #2

Anyone want to make bets over whether anyone will ever be legally punished over this?

Nope. Because they have dirt on everyone; and because politics is a messy business, there's plenty of dirt to be found if you have the kind of resources that they do.

Heck, Clapper lied _openly_ and admitted it later, only to get away scot free. (Yes, I have read the entire account in detail. He lied. There's no doubt about it.)

Re: Yes, The CIA Spied On Congress

#12

Post by discardorama » Thu, Mar 06, 2014, 4:20 AM UTC

shadowfiend wrote: post #8

Oh man, I hate this as much as the next person, but I think the best thing we can say right now is that there is nowhere near enough (public) evidence that this is a believable allegation. What we have is an article from McClatchy whose title ends in a question mark (“Probe: Did the CIA spy on the U.S. Senate?”), which to me is the red flag of red flags that they have no level of certainty whatsoever. Then the articl…

It's not McClatchy that's making it up. It's in Senator Udall's letter to Obama.

Re: Yes, The CIA Spied On Congress

#13

Post by RankingMember » Thu, Mar 06, 2014, 4:25 AM UTC

baddox wrote: post #2

Anyone want to make bets over whether anyone will ever be legally punished over this?

There's just not enough fuel in the outrage tank to keep up with all of these revelations, which starts to look a lot like disaffection/acceptance.

Re: Yes, The CIA Spied On Congress

#14

Post by zhemao » Thu, Mar 06, 2014, 4:26 AM UTC

[deleted] wrote: post #6

[deleted] wrote: post #4

[deleted]

[deleted]

Right, because the CIA has no electronic surveillance capabilities whatsoever. They can't cast a large dragnet over all of the country's communications like the NSA can, but they can sure as hell tap a few congressmen's phones and email.

Re: Yes, The CIA Spied On Congress

#15

Post by pkinsky » Thu, Mar 06, 2014, 4:27 AM UTC

fredgrott wrote: post #9

[deleted] wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[deleted]

under the Patriot Act the lines are no longer clear cut and dry like you imply.

>under the Patriot Act the lines are no longer clear cut and dry like you imply.

This is incredibly creepy to see under two deleted posts.

Re: Yes, The CIA Spied On Congress

#16

Post by line-zero » Thu, Mar 06, 2014, 4:32 AM UTC

Article in The Intercept: https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/03/05/congress-intel...

Re: Yes, The CIA Spied On Congress

#17

Post by r0h1n » Thu, Mar 06, 2014, 4:32 AM UTC

shadowfiend wrote: post #8

Oh man, I hate this as much as the next person, but I think the best thing we can say right now is that there is nowhere near enough (public) evidence that this is a believable allegation. What we have is an article from McClatchy whose title ends in a question mark (“Probe: Did the CIA spy on the U.S. Senate?”), which to me is the red flag of red flags that they have no level of certainty whatsoever. Then the articl…

The CIA director has pretty much acknowledged that they did indeed spy on the committee in this letter: http://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/brennan-lett...

> The Computer Crimes and Abuse Act...expressly "does not prohibit any lawfully authorized investigative, protective or intelligence agency...of an intelligence agency of the United States"

Re: Yes, The CIA Spied On Congress

#18

Post by Franklin_B » Thu, Mar 06, 2014, 4:35 AM UTC

It's ridiculous to believe that the CIA deserves the benefit of the doubt in this matter. More likely there are worse things we just aren't privy to.

Re: Yes, The CIA Spied On Congress

#19

Post by suprgeek » Thu, Mar 06, 2014, 4:36 AM UTC

So the CIA Illegally Spied on the Congress Staffers investigating illegal CIA Torture Methods?

------illegality recursion too deep-----------

But seriously this is a critical test for Pres. Obama. These agencies shouldn't be allowed to pull this kind of Shit without suffering serious consequences.

Time for the Executive to step-up, fire a bunch of high-rankers and NOT sweep this under the carpet as some sort of "Bad Apples" or "Mistakes were Made" whitewash.

Otherwise all that Hope & Change sloganeering will be empty rhetoric.

Re: Yes, The CIA Spied On Congress

#20

Post by sillysaurus3 » Thu, Mar 06, 2014, 4:45 AM UTC

wpietri wrote: post #7

The thing I would be wondering in a Congressperson's shoes shoes: what other things have I been doing that the CIA has been spying on? Chilling effects indeed. And for those inclined to brush that away as implausible, it might be time for a refresher on J. Edgar Hoover and his secret files on political leaders. [1] 50 years later, our tech is a lot better, so it would be much easier to gain inordinate power through s…

Late in life and after his death Hoover became a controversial figure, as evidence of his secretive actions became known. His critics have accused him of exceeding the jurisdiction of the FBI.[1] He used the FBI to harass political dissenters and activists, to amass secret files on political leaders,[2] and to collect evidence using illegal methods.[3] Hoover consequently amassed a great deal of power and was in a position to intimidate and threaten sitting Presidents.[4] However, according to biographer Kenneth Ackerman, the notion that Hoover’s secret files kept presidents from firing him is a myth.[5]

Seems some on Wikipedia disagree...