A lengthy Foreign Policy profile on Gen. Keith Alexander portrays the NSA chief as a smooth political operator with scant regard for upholding legal standards in the face of expanding the vast nexus of dragnet surveillance and spycraft over which he presides.

The NSA chief, according to one source, "ignored" concerns about the Fourth Amendment when it came to enabling the NSA to carry out warrantless surveillance on nearly every phone and online communication within and going out of the U.S..

Advertisement:

The profile notes a few strange details too: For example, the NSA intelligence center in Virginia, where between 2001 and 2003 Alexander (commanding general of the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command) would host politicians and lobbyists, was designed to look like "Star Trek's" Starship Enterprise set: