No Real Changes Will Happen With NSA Surveillance Until Clapper And Alexander Are Fired

from the there-needs-to-be-punishment-for-lying dept

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We've been arguing for months now that with James Clapper having admitted to blatantly lying to Congress (after trying to lie about the lie ) that it'sthat the man still has a job. If there is to be any accountability or trust going forward, he should lose his job (and potentially face charges). Instead, nothing is happening and no one seems to have any interest in doing anything. We've raised the question as to howcould possibly ever trust statements coming from the Intelligence Community again.Once again: the director of the intelligence community flat out, admitted it, andat all. What that teaches Clapper and others is that they can continue to lie, and, in fact, that they are effectively encouraged to lie, because there's no downside risk in doing so.It's good to see we're not the only ones who think so. James Goodale, a prominent First Amendment lawyer, and former General Counsel for the NY Times has written a stinging critique in the Guardian about all of the lies (noting that they go way beyond Clapper to Congress, but also include Clapper and Alexander both to the public and to the FISA court which is in charge of oversight):Then he notes that there's been no punishment at all for these guys, which is absolutely true. He further calls out the Justice Department for refusing to investigate the lies to the FISA court, and notes that if President Obama actually wants to rebuild trust in the government and the intelligence community itinclude punishing those who lied to Congress and to the FISA court. Otherwise, it is guaranteed that they will do so again.

Filed Under: james clapper, keith alexander, lying, nsa, nsa surveillance, trust