http://www.politico.com/blogs/politico-live/?hp=arFeinstein considering public NSA hearings
By SEUNG MIN KIM |
6/9/13 10:55 AM EDT
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein says she's open to holding public hearings on the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs.
Several senators – both defenders and critics of the NSA’s data-mining programs – have called for more public debate since the disclosures of those methods this week.
“I'm open to doing a hearing every month if that's necessary,” Feinstein said on ABC’s “This Week.”
The California Democrat held a classified session on the program on Capitol Hill last Thursday, which was attended by 27 senators. And she has defended the NSA program, saying it has helped thwart terrorist attacks.
Still, she acknowledged it was difficult for authorities to detail to the public how those methods have been helpful because of the classified nature of the information.
“We can't actually go in there and - other than the two that have been released - give the public an actual idea of people that have been saved, attacks that have been prevented, that kind of thing,” Feinstein said.
On the show, Feinstein referenced two terrorist plots where the NSA programs have been used: the case of David Headley, who was eventually sentenced for his involvement in the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India, and Najibullah Zazi, who had planned an attack on the New York subway system in 2009.
