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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

CNSNews.com (blog)

NSA Director: Decision to Unmask 'Really Important' People Can Depend on Whether He's 'Comfortable' CNSNews.com (blog) If the person mentioned in an investigation is really important, officials will check with him to make sure he's comfortable before making that person's name public, National Security Agency (NSA) Director Mike Rogers testified in a House hearing Monday. and more »

See the original post:
NSA Director: Decision to Unmask 'Really Important' People Can Depend on Whether He's 'Comfortable' - CNSNews.com (blog)

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WASHINGTON House Intelligence Committee Republicans told the intelligence community Monday that they may not want to reauthorize an intelligence gathering tool that may have snagged and IDed former Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn during surveillance of Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

I have every expectation that those we are going to get all the evidence that we need. Now if it wasnt then, yeah wed have a problem, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes told The Daily Caller when asked if members may not reauthorize the surveillance initiative if the intel community does not cooperate and provide names of any individual involved with the leak of Flynns name.

Florida Republican Rep. Tom Rooney, who chairs a subcommittee that oversees the National Security Agency, disclosed at the House Intelligence Committee hearing Monday he was concerned he will have a difficult time convincing his fellow Republican members that they should vote for reauthorizing an expiring section of the Patriot Act at the end of the year.

Under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the government can collect intelligence by targeting foreigners suspected to be outside U.S. borders. However, incidental conversations these individuals have with Americans can happen and that is what members believe happened to Flynn.

But as an American citizen, his name must be masked. Instead, Flynns name was revealed and released to the press.

If it hurts, this leak, which through the 702 tool which we all agree is vital, you and I at least agree to that, do you think that leak threatens our national security? If its a crime and if its unveiling a masked personand this tool is so important and when we have to reauthorize it in a few months if this is used against us to reauthorize this tool and we cant get it done, Rooney said in an exchange with NSA director Admiral Mike Rogers.

He continued, Whoever did this leak or these nine people who did this leak [if they] create such a stir, whether it be in our legislative process or whatever, and they dont feel confident that a U.S. person under the 702 program can be masked successfully and not be leaked to the press, doesnt that leak hurt our national security?

Rogers answered in the affirmative.

Fellow intelligence committee member South Carolina Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy stated that getting their members to support reauthorization may only happen if the intelligence community tell them who leaked Flynns name.

What we are reauthorizing this fall has nothing to do with what we are discussing, Gowdy said, but added that the public does not draw the distinction.

During the hearing, Rogers disclosed that only 20 people, including himself and FBI Director James Comey, could possibly have decided to have unmasked Flynns name. However, the other names were not revealed.

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See original here:
Republicans Warn Reauthorization Of NSA Surveillance Tool Will Be Hard After Flynn Leaks - Daily Caller

NSA Deputy Director Richard Ledgett answers questions during the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on the House-passed Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act reform bill while on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 5, 2014. REUTERS/Larry Downing

Allegations from the United States that British spy agency GCHQ snooped on Donald Trump during his election campaign are arrant nonsense, the deputy head of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) said in an interview on Saturday.

President Trump has stood by unproven claims that the Obama administration tapped his phones during the 2016 White House race. On Thursday his spokesman cited a media report that Britains GCHQ was behind the surveillance.

Richard Ledgett, deputy director of the NSA, told BBC News the idea that Britain had a hand in spying on Trump was just crazy.

It belies a complete lack of understanding of how the relationship works between the intel community agencies, it completely ignores the political reality of would the UK government agree to do that?', Ledgett said.

There would be no advantage for Britains government in spying on Trump, given the potential cost, he said.

It would be epically stupid, said Ledgett, who is due to retire shortly.

Current and former NSA officials have described an acrimonious relationship between intelligence agencies and the Trump administration.

Trump, who became president in January, tweeted earlier this month that his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama had wiretapped him during the late stages of the 2016 campaign. The Republican president offered no evidence for the allegation, which an Obama spokesman said was simply false.

Fox News analyst Andrew Napolitano on Tuesday accused the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) the British equivalent of the NSA of having helped Obama to spy on Trump.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer quoted Napolitanos comments on Thursday.

GCHQ said the claims it spied on Trump were utterly ridiculous and should be ignored, in a rare public statement.

On Friday, Trump said questions on this should be asked of Fox News, not him.

(Reporting by Andy Bruce; Editing by Dale Hudson)

Go here to see the original:
Just crazy: Top NSA official ridicules Trump for British ...

Allegations from the United States that British spy agency GCHQ snooped on Donald Trump during his election campaign are arrant nonsense, the deputy head of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) said in an interview on Saturday.

President Trump has stood by unproven claims that the Obama administration tapped his phones during the 2016 White House race. On Thursday his spokesman cited a media report that Britains GCHQ was behind the surveillance.

Richard Ledgett, deputy director of the NSA, told BBC News the idea that Britain had a hand in spying on Trump was just crazy.

It belies a complete lack of understanding of how the relationship works between the intel community agencies, it completely ignores the political reality of would the UK government agree to do that?', Ledgett said.

There would be no advantage for Britains government in spying on Trump, given the potential cost, he said.

It would be epically stupid, said Ledgett, who is due to retire shortly.

Current and former NSA officials have described an acrimonious relationship between intelligence agencies and the Trump administration.

Trump, who became president in January, tweeted earlier this month that his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama had wiretapped him during the late stages of the 2016 campaign. The Republican president offered no evidence for the allegation, which an Obama spokesman said was simply false.

Fox News analyst Andrew Napolitano on Tuesday accused the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) the British equivalent of the NSA of having helped Obama to spy on Trump.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer quoted Napolitanos comments on Thursday.

GCHQ said the claims it spied on Trump were utterly ridiculous and should be ignored, in a rare public statement.

On Friday, Trump said questions on this should be asked of Fox News, not him.

More:
NSA official: Trump's British spying claim is 'nonsense' - New York Post