Mediaboss Marketing

Whether the topic is ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn's leaked contacts with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak, Trump's unsubstantiated claim that former President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower or House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes' recent pronouncement that some of Trump's communications may have been swept up, to understand the story, one must understand the terms involved.

The National Security Agency, or NSA, is a US intelligence organization primarily tasked with the collection and analysis of foreign signals intelligence -- communications, generally through electronic means, be it a phone call, an email or something else entirely. This can also include metadata -- the information about the communications themselves -- like when, where and to whom a message is sent or received.

The NSA's mandate is to deal with foreign intelligence targets, like militants overseas or members of another government.

It is headquartered in Maryland, but its presence is felt globally, scooping up and processing information from people located virtually anywhere.

Its activities are covert, wide-ranging and linked to any number of US security efforts.

NSA has wide discretion to conduct surveillance on people outside of the US, but there are supposed to be legal barriers to snooping on US citizens. If the NSA picks up communications from a US citizen in the course of monitoring a foreign national, it is practice to "mask" the identity of the US person. Additionally, the identification of a US citizen mentioned in discussions between two foreign nationals is supposed to be masked.

But if the NSA or another agency with which NSA is sharing the information, like the FBI, wants to identify the person, it can do so if it believes it's necessary in the course of investigations or have probable cause to indicate there may be criminal conduct involved. Rogers said the number of people who have unmasking authority was limited in the NSA to about 20 people, while FBI Director James Comey said there were necessarily many more in the FBI who could do so because the agency's work involves domestic affairs.

Nunes said Trump's communications and those of people involved in his campaign may have been collected by the government through "incidental collection."

That means that in the course of monitoring for foreign intelligence purposes, the government may have caught the private communications of then President-elect Trump. But as noted later Wednesday by Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, incidental collection could refer simply to the mention of a US citizen, not that their communications were collected.

"If we are listening to two foreign spies, for example, talking to each other on foreign soil or two representatives of a foreign government, and they mention a US person -- that is incidental collection," Schiff said.

Passed alongside nine other amendments together known as the Bill of Rights, the Fourth Amendment is meant to curtail "unreasonable" searches from the government and require warrants based on probable cause for searches.

It is the main constitutional right that the US surveillance state butts against.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 established the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), a secretive court that can approve or disapprove spying requests. Its authority grew following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents in 2013 exposing US surveillance activities and techniques, leading to the passage of the USA Freedom Act in 2015. The law implemented a set of reforms to FISC, which as of 2016 had rarely turned down requests from the government.

Additionally, FISA is often used not just to refer to the law itself but authorized surveillance under it. Similarly, the terms FISA orders, FISA warrants, etc. are used regularly.

In order to invade a US citizen's privacy for a search or seizure, law enforcement is legally required to have a warrant.

Laws passed following the revelation have attempted to narrow the scope of warrantless wiretaps.

Section 702 of FISA is set to expire at the end of this year unless Congress votes to renew it and Trump signs that renewal into law.

It was one of the changes to FISA introduced in 2008 and establishes rules for the Justice Department and the director of national intelligence together target people located outside the US.

Government Communications Headquarters is essentially the equivalent to the NSA in the United Kingdom.

The United States has an intelligence alliance with four other English-speaking nations: The United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The five nations share intimate intelligence as part of what they call the "Five Eyes" agreement.

In his appearance before the House Intelligence Committee on Monday, Rogers said asking GCHQ to wiretap Trump would be at odds with the Five Eyes agreement.

Continue reading here:
'Unmasking,' FISA and other terms to help you understand the wiretapping story - CNN

National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers joined Republican lawmakers in blasting unacceptable leaks of sensitive information, during testimony Monday before the House Intelligence Committee.

Adm. Rogers spoke alongside FBI Director James Comey, both holdovers from the Obama administration, in a hearing addressing claims of Russian interference in the 2016 election and other controversies.

Comey confirmed at the hearing that the bureau is investigating Russias meddling as well as any potential ties to the Trump campaign. But both officials also decried intelligence leaks, which GOP lawmakers describe as a major security threat some of those leaks have fueled recent reports about the status of the FBIs Russia probe.

Rogers said he is greatly concerned about leaks of classified information.

Comey echoed Rogers, stressing how seriously we take leaks of classified information. He also said hes seen a lot of conversations about classified matters showing up in the press, and a lot of it is dead wrong.

As the officials lamented leaks, Republicans sought to press the witnesses for details on who might be responsible. Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., asked Comey to confirm what former Obama administration officials could have had access to unmasked names or American citizens incidentally recorded in conversations with surveillance targets.

The term unmasked refers to what happens when the inadvertent subject of government surveillance is named and documented, as was reportedly done with former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn in conversations with Russias ambassador, leading to his resignation.

When asked specifically if he briefed former President Barack Obama on any calls involving Flynn, Comey said he couldnt get into the particular case or any conversations he had with the president.

Gowdy also read off a list of names, asking about former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former CIA Director John Brennan, former National Security Adviser Susan Rice, former Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes, former Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former acting Attorney General Sally Yates. Comey would not confirm specifics, but agreed those positions could have access to unmasked names.

Though they may have access to the names, that doesnt meant they were in a position to do the unmasking.

When Rogers was asked how Flynns identity could have been revealed, he said, Im not going to discuss hypotheticals about individuals. Rogers said he and 19 other people at the NSA have the authority to unmask the identity of Americans.

Rogers said he couldnt provide the number of Americans who have been unmasked since June 2016 until more research is completed, but did acknowledge that when U.S. citizens are unmasked, it hurts national security.

Rogers has served in the Navy for the past three decades and graduated from the National War College. He was appointed by Obama as the director of the NSA, taking office in April of 2014 in the wake of massive leaks by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Last fall, he drew criticism when he met with President Trump in New York, reportedly angering senior members of the Obama administration by failing to clear the visit with his superiors. It was reported at the time that Clapper and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter called for Rogers to be fired -- not because of his meeting with Trump, but because of security breaches at the NSA and questions over his leadership.

When asked for a response to calls for his dismissal in November, Rogers said "I'm not going to go down that road," telling a reporter, I'm accountable for my actions."

Rogers also said Monday there was no evidence to support the claim that the Obama administration instructed British intelligence organization GCHQ to spy on the Trump team during the campaign.

More:
NSA chief, GOP lawmakers rip 'unacceptable' leaks - Fox News

Talk-radio host Michael Savage is among the public figures who were under surveillance by the National Security Agency as part of its Project Dragnet, according to a database revealed by an agency whistleblower.

Jerome Corsi, an investigative reporter for Infowars.com, told Savage on The Savage Nation radio show Monday that one of Savages email addresses was discovered in the database.

Infowars.com said the database has evidence of spying on U.S. citizens from 2004 to 2010, but Corsi told Savage there is no indication the surveillance has stopped.

Michael Savage

It shows Donald J. Trump and Infowars founder Alex Jones also were under illegal, unauthorized government monitoring during those years.

Like the reporting you see here? Sign up for free news alerts from WND.com, Americas independent news network.

Infowars.com obtained sections of the database from Michael Zullo, formerly the chief investigator of the Cold Case Posse, a special investigative unit in the office of Joseph Arpaio, the former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona.

Project Dragnet was first revealed by news reports in 2005 and further documented by the revelations of whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013.

Corsi told Savage he discovered the database included some 50 entries for Donald Trump and his businesses and family members.

They were all over Donald Trump starting in 2004, when the database starts, he said.

Corsi said, regarding Savage, that he found two solid hits in the database in 2004 and 2005, which was during the time of the George W. Bush administration.

Anybody who was prominent at that point, the NSA was going after to collect data. And it was not necessarily at the direction of George W. Bush. They were doing it on their own initiative, Corsitold Savage.

Last Tuesday, as WND reported, the day of the launch of his new book, Trumps War: His Battle for America, Savage was violently attacked at a San Francisco-area restaurant by a man who appeared to have been politically motivated.

In his interview with Corsi Monday, Savage noted that, legally, Americans cannot be spied upon without a judges order from a FISA court.

Thats the way its supposed to be, Corsi affirmed. But these millions of entries, its impossible for me to believe they went to get FISA rulings on any of these.

See the Savage book collection in the WND Superstore

Corsi said Arpaio and Zullo have identified dozens of entries in the database at various Trump addresses, including Trump Tower in New York City and Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.

Most of the political figures, Corsi said, had no idea they were under surveillance.

He said that while he has information that the operation began, he has found no indication that it has stopped.

Savage said he must assume that his emails were being monitored.

Corsi added: And they go after your bank accounts, your credit cards your tax returns.

They assembled a comprehensive file on you, and Im confident that file remains intact, Corsi said.

Why would the government do this? Savage asked.

Well, just to have it available. Just in case they decided that they were going to, in any way, go after you or blackmail you, or just create a profile.

Corsi said a full congressional investigation is necessary, calling it an enormous, flagrant violation of your rights and everyone in that database, which are millions of Americans.

Get Savages free weekly insider newsletter five days a week in your email inbox by going to the top of the home page on Savages website and clicking the green SUBSCRIBE box.

Read the original post:
Michael Savage was target of NSA spying - WND.com

March 20, 2017, 8:21 a.m.

The director of the National Security Agency said the Obama administration did not ask British intelligence to spy on Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign, as White House Press SecretarySean Spicer alleged last week.

Adm. Mike Rogers said such a request to eavesdrop on a U.S. citizen would be "expressly against the construct" of intelligence agreements with the British and other close allies.

"I have seen nothing on the NSA side that we ever engaged in such activity" or was asked to conduct surveillance of Trump by Obama, Rogers said.

Rogers testified during the first congressional hearing into Russia's role during the 2016 presidential campaignand into President Trump's claims, first made on Twitter, that Obama had wiretapped him at Trump Tower.

Last Thursday, Spicer repeated a claim by a Fox News commentator that British intelligence had spied on Trump before his inauguration to keep "American fingerprints" off the surveillance.

The British signals agency, known as GCHQ, issued a rare and angry denial. A spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May also denied the charge, and the British Embassy in Washington complained to the White House.

Trump last week declined to withdraw the allegation during a newsconference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and referred reporters to Fox News for comment. Fox News later said it had no evidence "full stop" to support the commentator's claim.

Rogers declined to discuss press reports that U.S. surveillance picked up several telephone conversations between retired Lt. Gen Mike Flynn, who was ousted as national security adviser last month, and Sergey Kislyak, Russia's ambassador to the United States, after last year's election.

View original post here:
NSA director says US government did not ask British intelligence to spy on Trump - Los Angeles Times

Today's big event is the testimony before Congress of FBI director James Comey and NSA chief Mike Rogers. Everyone seems very excited about this except me. Let's listen in:

The F.B.I., as part of our counterintelligence effort, is investigating the Russian governments efforts to interfere in the 2016 president election, [Comey] continued, adding that the investigation included looking at whether associates of Mr. Trump were in contact with Russian officials, and colluded with them.

....Mr. Comey told the House intelligence committee, We have no information to support President Trumps assertion on Twitter that President Barack Obama tapped Trump Tower.

....The N.S.A. chief, Admiral Rogers, weighed in as well, saying that he had no knowledge of anyone asking the British or any other ally to wiretap Mr. Trump. That refuted another claim made by the White House....He then explicitly denied having any indication that Mr. Trump was wiretapped by British intelligence at the request of Mr. Obama.

So the FBI is investigating possible ties between Russia and some of Trump's campaign aides, but Obama didn't order any kind of wiretap or surveillance of Trump Tower. We already knew this, right?

Now, none of this means there was any Trump-Russia collusion, nor that there was no surveillance of Trump. The first is still under review, and the second could have been ordered as part of a criminal investigation that Obama had nothing to do with. But it does mean, essentially, that Trump's March 4 tweets were just made-up rubbish based on a Breitbart story that someone stuffed into his pile of reading material. Of course, we already knew that too, didn't we?

Read more:
In Shocker, FBI and NSA Testify That Trump Is Full of Shit - Mother Jones