Author Topic: Snowden Revelation: NSA Spied On Five Politically Active American Citizens ("moderate" Muslims), The Intercept Reports  (Read 405 times)

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Offline mountaineer

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Story posted at HuffPost, with links to original report at Intercept (click on this link for full story):
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WASHINGTON -- Glenn Greenwald is naming names.

The National Security Agency spied on five American citizens despite a lack of any finding that they posed a threat to national security, The Intercept, an investigative outlet co-founded by Greenwald, is reporting Wednesday.

All five are moderate American citizens who appear to have been targeted for surveillance because of their political activity. The NSA told The Intercept that the surveillance was not "based solely" on speech.

"No U.S. person can be the subject of FISA surveillance based solely on First Amendment activities, such as staging public rallies, organizing campaigns, writing critical essays, or expressing personal beliefs," the statement read.

The revelation of the names of those spied on has been hotly anticipated since Greenwald teased it in May. The names were included in documents leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Greenwald obtained the consent of all five before publishing their names, he told HuffPost. Among those is Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. CAIR, the largest Muslim civil rights organization in the country, is widely regarded as moderate.

"I have long viewed this as one of the most important stories in the Snowden archive because it puts a face on the NSA's surveillance overreach and illustrates, yet again - that domestic spying abuses usually target minorities, marginalized groups, and dissidents," Greenwald told HuffPost.

Another of the Americans targeted for surveillance was Faisal Gill, a longtime Republican Party operative and one-time candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates. He previously held a top-secret security clearance and served in the Department of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush. He was targeted in the mid-2000s by conservatives who accused him of falsifying records to obtain his security clearance. He was cleared by the Department of Homeland Security.  ...
« Last Edit: July 09, 2014, 01:12:14 pm by mountaineer »
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Offline mountaineer

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From the Intercept:
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According to documents provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, the list of Americans monitored by their own government includes:

• Faisal Gill, a longtime Republican Party operative and one-time candidate for public office who held a top-secret security clearance and served in the Department of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush;

• Asim Ghafoor, a prominent attorney who has represented clients in terrorism-related cases;

• Hooshang Amirahmadi, an Iranian-American professor of international relations at Rutgers University;

• Agha Saeed, a former political science professor at California State University who champions Muslim civil liberties and Palestinian rights;

• Nihad Awad, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim civil rights organization in the country.

The individuals appear on an NSA spreadsheet in the Snowden archives called “FISA recap”—short for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Under that law, the Justice Department must convince a judge with the top-secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that there is probable cause to believe that American targets are not only agents of an international terrorist organization or other foreign power, but also “are or may be” engaged in or abetting espionage, sabotage, or terrorism. The authorizations must be renewed by the court, usually every 90 days for U.S. citizens. ...
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Offline mountaineer

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Speaking of Snowden:
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Lawyer: Snowden asks to extend stay in Russia

MOSCOW (AP) — Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has applied to extend his stay in Russia, his lawyer said Wednesday.

Anatoly Kucherena told The Associated Press that Snowden applied to Russia's migration authorities "a long time ago" since his one-year permit is expiring at the end of July.

Kucherena refused to say what kind of migration status his client is seeking, saying that it is up to the Federal Migration Service to make the decision.

Snowden was stranded in a Moscow airport last year on his way from Hong Kong to Cuba, shortly after he revealed the NSA's sprawling program of tapping phones. He received asylum in Russia, attracting the ire of the United States.

The American who leaked a trove of material from the super-secret National Security Agency has kept a low profile in Russia, has never been seen in public or talked to local journalists. His whereabouts are unknown.

Kucherena insisted that the secrecy is necessary for Snowden's protection while skeptics argued that Snowden was living under the surveillance of the Russian secret services.

A Kremlin-connected website has published several pictures of Snowden indicating that he either lives in Moscow or visits it often.

Snowden appeared on President Vladimir Putin's call-in show in April when he asked a question about surveillance in a pre-recorded video message. ...
Associated Press via YahooNews

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Offline mountaineer

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What was that about CAIR being moderate?
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CAIR Promotes Justification of Palestinian Terror
Organization scrambled to delete the tweet soon afterwards
7.9.2014
Daniel Mael
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On Wednesday afternoon, the Council on American Islamic Relations Twitter account featured an article from the anti-Israel blog Electronic Intifada that justifies Palestinian terror towards Israel. Minutes later, the group deleted the tweet but it was first captured and retweeted ...

The picture, a spoof of an ADL ad warning of Palestinian terror against Israel, reads: Imagine you've been stateless for 66 years, living under military occupation for the last 47 years, and under a devastating trade embargo for the last 8. Imagine that anyone around you could be arbitrarily executed without due process by the occupying army. Imagine you had absolutely no legal recourse for addressing your predicament. No people would tolerate such conditions forever, and neither will Palestinians.

THAT'S WHY PALESTINIANS FIGHT BACK

The article also derides Israel and the counter-terrorism initiatives of the Israeli government as "the latest act in a storied history of shameful behavior."

Earlier this week, CAIR leader Nihad Awad promoted anti-Semitism in an Arabic tweet.
More at Truth Revolt
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Oceander

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CAIR is the only legitimate target of the lot.

Offline Fishrrman

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When I saw this headline, my immediate thought was, "well, at least they're doing SOMETHING right...."