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NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake denounced a plea bargain reached by former CIA Director David Petraeus and federal prosecutors, calling it a slap on the wrist for illegal actions served no public good.

On Tuesday, court documents revealed the extent of Petraeus security breaches, which included sharing classified information with his biographer and paramour Paula Broadwell and lying to federal agents about his actions.

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Petraeus lawyers negotiated a deal that would give the retired general two years probation and pay a $40,000 fine, but would keep him out of prison entirely. A federal judge could still change his ultimate sentence and put him behind bars for up to one year.

The governments message is clear, Drake said in a statement. [W]histleblowing in the public interest will be punished, while disclosing classified information devoid of public value will get you a pass.

Drake was indicted under the Espionage Act for allegedly revealing information about the NSAs Trailblazer monitoring project to a reporter, as well as to a staffer in Congress. He was also charged with obstructing justice and making false statements.

Ultimately, after years of legal proceedings, the federal government dropped the charges against Drake and agreed not to seek jail time if he plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge.

The statement was relayed to POLITICO by the Government Accountability Project, a Washington, DC-based non-profit.

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NSA whistleblower denounces Petraeus plea bargain

The Geek Life #246: Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show, Limostatin, NSA, and more!
http://www.webcastbeacon.com/geeklife-246 I Wasn #39;t Squished, Before! Paul has video problems as we talk about Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show, Limostatin, NSA, and more! We also...

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The Geek Life #246: Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show, Limostatin, NSA, and more! - Video

The approval will be the last before the relevant statute in the Patriot Act comes up for renewal

A U.S. secret court has extended until June 1 the controversial bulk collection of private phone records of Americans by the National Security Agency.

The government said it had asked for reauthorization of the program as reform legislation, called the USA Freedom Act, was stalled in Congress. The bill would require telecommunications companies rather than the NSA to hold the bulk data, besides placing restrictions on the search terms used to retrieve the records.

An added urgency for Congress to act comes from the upcoming expiry on June 1 of the relevant part of the Patriot Act that provides the legal framework for the bulk data collections. Under a so-called "sunset" clause, the provision will lapse unless it is reauthorized in some form or the other by legislation.

Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which relates to business records, was used by the government to vacuum telephone metadata from customers of Verizon, according to revelations in 2013 by former NSA contractor, Edward Snowden. The section comes bundled with "gag orders" that prohibit service providers from making such information demands public.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court had previously extended in December the authorization for the program by 90 days after the USA Freedom Act, backed by the administration of President Barack Obama, failed to pass in the Senate. A version of the bill had passed the House of Representatives.

The government has now sought renewal of the current program up to June 1 in order to align its expiry date with the sunset on the same day of Section 215 of the Patriot Act, according to a joint statement by the Department of Justice and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Friday.

In March last year, as part of his reform program for the NSA, Obama had proposed that the data should remain with the telephone companies, and government would have access to that data only through individual court orders. The president, however, said there was need for new legislation to put these changes into effect.

With Section 215 and two other key rules set to lapse on June 1, Congress "has a limited window" before the sunset to enact new legislation "that would implement the President's proposed path forward for the telephony metadata program, while preserving key intelligence authorities," according to a statement by the White House press secretary.

A number of civil rights and privacy groups have asked Congress to oppose reauthorization of Section 215, one of several provisions in U.S. law that have provided the legal backing for NSA surveillance of people both in the country and abroad. The sunset of section 215 may not end bulk records collection, particularly of investigations that started before the expiry, according to some interpretations. Government could also use other statutes for domestic bulk data collection.

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NSA authorization to collect bulk phone data extended to June 1

Loretta Lynch: NSA spying is "certainly constitutional and effective"

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Loretta Lynch: NSA spying is "certainly constitutional and effective" - Video

NSA: 10 Minute English: TEST (H)
A free supplementary sesson for Upper Intermediate Advanced English Language Students at Native Speakers Academy. We hope this will encourage you to not on...

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