spying

Competing USA Freedom Act vs. USA Patriot Act extension votes this weekend

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aquabuddhaWhen last we checked in on Senator Aqua Buddha, Rand Paul (R-KY), he was conducting a not-really-a-filibuster of the USA Patriot Act extension, which was not the bill under consideration on the Senate floor at the time.

As filibusters go, it was not a serious effort, and it only accomplished pushing back the Senate’s calendar into Saturday. Paul’s filibuster wraps up after more than 10 hours .

So the take away from Aqua Buddha’s stunt is that: (1) he is not seriously committed to the constitutional and civil liberties principles that he claims to represent; (2) he did it only to draw attention to himself and his presidential campaign, and to raise campaign funds off of it (he sent out a fundraising email before his stunt began); and (3) Aqua Buddha is just a grifter like his old man, the village idiot Ron Paul, shaking down the rubes and relieving them of the money in their pocket. Grifting is the Paul family business.

So where do things stand with the USA Patriot Act provisions set to expire at the end of the month?

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Senate filibuster of USA Patriot Act extension underway

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Last week, the House overwhelmingly approved by a vote of 338-88 the USA Freedom Act, which would prevent the NSA from collecting metadata about the phone numbers people dial and when their calls are placed. House overwhelmingly passes USA Freedom Act, Senate GOP opposed.

NSA-SpyingThe Septuagenarian Ninja Turtle, Mitch McConnell and other Senate Republicans oppose the USA Freedom Act and are pushing to pass a “clean” extension of the Patriot Act, including Section 215, which the NSA uses to justify its phone records program.

But the Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled bulk collection of phone records is not authorized by Section 215 of the Patriot Act. Second Circuit rules NSA bulk collection of phone records is illegal. “In a 97-page ruling (.pdf), a three-judge panel for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit [unanimously] held that a provision of the USA Patriot Act known as Section 215 cannot be legitimately interpreted to allow the bulk collection of domestic calling records.” So what the Turtle Man and GOP senators want, the court has already ruled is illegal.

The Hill reports, Republicans in showdown over NSA spy program:

Sen. Mitch McConnell on Tuesday said he would allow a vote on legislation overhauling the nation’s surveillance programs, which could give him more leverage in the fight over the National Security Agency’s future.

The move means the Senate will vote this week on the USA Freedom Act — but it does not guarantee its passage.

While the bill was overwhelmingly approved in a 338-88 House vote last week and is backed by the White House and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) both oppose it.

So do a number of other hawkish Senate Republicans who argue it would endanger national security by preventing the government from holding metadata collected from phone calls.

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House overwhelmingly passes USA Freedom Act, Senate GOP opposed

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The House by a 338-88 vote overwhelmingly approved the USA Freedom Act, which would prevent the NSA from collecting metadata about the phone numbers people dial and when their calls are placed. The bill faces opposition from GOP leaders in the Senate.

The Hill reports, House backs NSA reform, 338-88:

NSA-SpyingForty-seven Republicans and 41 Democrats opposed the bill. [Roll call not yet posted.]

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The politics surrounding the NSA’s surveillance programs are scrambled, and the Senate has just two weeks before the existing law authorizing the NSA’s metadata collection expires.

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While the White House backs the USA Freedom Act, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has led opposition to it in the upper chamber and supports extending Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which authorizes the collection of metadata, without reforms. [The Second Circuit Court of Appeals last week ruled that Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act does not authorize metadata collection.]

McConnell’s allies include Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the White House hopeful.

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Second Circuit rules NSA bulk collection of phone records is illegal

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The wheels of justice grind slowly, but they do grind. Today the Second Circuit Court of Appeals  held that the NSA’s bulk collection of telephone records is illegal. It is the first opinion from a Court of Appeals. And it comes at a time when Congress is currently considering an extension of the USA Patriot Act, set to expire on June 1, or to replace it with the USA Freedom Act.

The New York Times reports N.S.A. Phone Data Collection Illegal, Appeals Court Rules:

NSA-SpyingA federal appeals court in New York on Thursday ruled that the once-secret National Security Agency program that is systematically collecting Americans’ phone records in bulk is illegal. The decision comes as a fight in Congress is intensifying over whether to end and replace the program, or to extend it without changes.

In a 97-page ruling, a three-judge panel for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit [unanimously] held that a provision of the USA Patriot Act known as Section 215 cannot be legitimately interpreted to allow the bulk collection of domestic calling records.

The ruling was certain to increase the tension that has been building in Congress as the provision of the act that has been cited to justify the bulk data collection program nears expiration. It will expire in June unless lawmakers pass a bill to extend it.

Thursday’s ruling did not come with any injunction ordering the program to cease, and it is not clear that anything else will happen in the judicial system before Congress has to make a decision about the expiring law.

It is the first time a higher-level court in the regular judicial system has reviewed the program.

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Federal Gov’t Spying on Citizens: Big Brother Really Is Watching

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Keyboard-578-adj-crop-sig-sm72by Pamela Powers Hannley

Several weeks ago, after the US intelligence agencies found the Boston Marathon bombers in a matter of days, I posted this story: Who Is Homeland Security Watching? Off-the-grid Fertilizer Plant vs On-the-Grid Citizenry.

When I said that the federal government was watching “real people, not corporate people,” I had no idea how prophetic that statement was. In the few short weeks since that story, there has been one revelation about government spying on American citizens and news organizations after another.

Gov’t Obtains Wide AP Phone Records in Probe
First we learned that the feds obtained months worth of telephone records from Associated Press (AP) reporters. AP called this “a ‘massive and unprecedented intrusion’ into how news organizations gather the news.”

US gov’t collecting huge number of phone records
Although there was a huge media uproar over the AP story when it broke, it pales in comparison to what we learned this week. Senator Diane Feinstein, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, confirmed that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been collecting cell phone records for millions of Americans on a regular basis for years. This ongoing surveillance of American citizens began during the warrantless wiretapping program initiated under President George Bush’s reign. Verizon, Sprint, and At&T have complied with court orders to provide customer data. Verizon alone has 121 million customers. More details and links after the jump.