Now really, does anyone think for one second Feinstein is going to find Obama was unaware? Of course not. She may "find" all this was hidden from him and he would have been aware if told; may "find" that it was the fault of the Bush administration the agency, which has been under Obama's leadership for 5 years, had bad practices which was no fault of Obama; may ''find'' the spying isn't as widespread as the media and Europe make it out to be; may "find" there were some 'glitches' in the system which Obama could not have known about therefore it wasn't his fault. But she is going to hold harmless Obama. :nometalk:
Democrat Senate intelligence chair Dianne Feinstein calls for 'major review' of NSA spying and says it's a 'big problem' if Obama was unaware
By David Martosko, U.s. Political Editor
PUBLISHED: 16:57 EST, 28 October 2013 | UPDATED: 17:11 EST, 28 October 2013
The U.S. Senate's top foreign intelligence official said Monday in a scathing statement that she is 'totally opposed' to spying of the sort that has gotten the Obama administration into hot water this week.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat who chairs the powerful Senate Intelligence Committee, seemed miffed at the idea that she and her colleagues were out of the loop when the president's men conducted surveillance on foreign leaders in Europe and Latin America.
And she said President Obama's lack of knowledge about monitoring of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's phones going back to 2002 posed 'a big problem.'
So she's tightening the leash.
In the letter, he tells Feinstein, (D-CA) (pictured) 'You ma'am have overstepped a line that is not your domain'
Feinstein is setting up a Democrat-on-Democrat showdown as the White House scrambles to justify spying on foreign leaders from friendly nations
'The White House has informed me that collection on our allies will not continue, which I support,' said Feinstein.
'But as far as I’m concerned, Congress needs to know exactly what our intelligence community is doing. To that end, the committee will initiate a major review into all intelligence collection programs.'
It's highly unusual for the majority party in either house of Congress to attack a sitting president in the same party over foreign policy.
More...
So what did Obama know? White House won't confirm president didn't know that NSA spied on German Chancellor's phones until a few weeks ago
Obama 'gave the go-ahead for Merkel phone tapping' as he wanted to 'know everything' about world's most powerful woman, German newspaper claims
Spain claims NSA monitored tens of millions of phone calls in a single month – as depth of US spying is revealed
But as tensions fray in Washington over America's reputation abroad, it appears Feinstein has set party loyalty aside and is setting up Obama for a major confrontation in which both halves of the Senate will be intensely critical of him.
Her committee has green-lighted controversial National Security Agency intelligence-gathering programs in the past, including electronic intercepts that require the approval of a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act judge.
But 'unlike NSA's collection of phone records under a court order,' she said Monday, 'it is clear to me that certain surveillance activities have been in effect for more than a decade and that the Senate Intelligence Committee was not satisfactorily informed. Therefore our oversight needs to be strengthened and increased.'
Obama swore in a new FBI Director on Monday to handle domestic law enforcement, but all eyes were on his overseas intelligence operations, now accused of secretly hoovering up information from foreign heads of state
While Barack Obama swore in a new FBI Director on Monday to handle domestic law-enforcement, all eyes were on the president's overseas intelligence operations, now accused of secretly hoovering up information from foreign heads of state
Feinstein has become a key power-broker in the checks-and-balances struggle between a White House that wants to spy on the world and a Congress that has to foot the bill
Feinstein has become a key power-broker in the checks-and-balances struggle between a White House that wants to spy on the world and a Congress that has to foot the bill
The U.S. spying effort was international front-page news over the weekend and on Monday, following reports that America had listened in on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cell phone conversations and read her private text messages.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney fended off questions about intelligence gathering of world leaders on Monday, but wouldn't go on-record saying when Obama knew about the program
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney fended off questions about intelligence gathering of world leaders on Monday, but wouldn't go on-record saying when Obama knew about the program
The NSA also allegedly hacked into emails belonging to Mexican President Felipe Calderon and collected so-called 'metadata' – times, dates, dialed numbers and durations of phone calls – from 60 million conversations in Spain.
Feinstein said she is 'totally opposed.'
'Unless the United States is engaged in hostilities against a country or there is an emergency need for this type of surveillance, I do not believe the United States should be collecting phone calls or emails of friendly presidents and prime ministers,' she said.
'The president should be required to approve any collection of this sort.'
Feinstein also referred to a Wall Street Journal report that Obama first learned this summer about eavesdropping on Merkel, and promptly discontinued the operation.
But rather than praise her fellow Democrat for his restraint, she slammed him for being unaware of what his own intelligence agencies were doing with regard to such a sensitive matter.
'It is my understanding that President Obama was not aware Chancellor Merkel’s communications were being collected since 2002,' Feinstein said. 'That is a big problem.'
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