Robert Litt, a top lawyer for the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, blasted Edward Snowden for his leaks, insisting they can’t be considered “whistleblowing” because the covert government surveillance of US civilians “complied with the law.”
Litt went on to insist that all of the NSA’s surveillance programs are completely legal, and were secretly found to comply with secret interpretations of secret laws by secret US courts.
Since so much of the US legal system is conducted behind closed doors these days, there is no way to either confirm Litt’s assessment nor serious dispute it. The law, nebulous as it has become, is essentially whatever the executive branch claims it is at any given time.
That said, Snowden would’ve had no more access to the “secret” legal basis than anyone else, and had every reason to believe the NSA surveillance might have been violating the law. Beyond that, there is little dispute that such surveillance is extremely immoral, and uncovering the dirty deeds of the federal government, even if they comply with the letter of whatever passes for the law these days, could still reasonably be called “whistleblowing.”
Spy programs are very good. and I would say that it is even ok to have to some situations that require plausible deniability and for these programs to be run a bit on the edge or a little over the edge. But this be beyond getting caught with your pants down. This is more like they were found burning the constitution and creating the mechanisms of a totalitarian system at the same time. Who cares if it is legal it is wrong
A Government that ignores the Constitution is illegitimate. A 'Law' that violates the Constitution is no law. The lawyer for the Government should be disbarred–at the very least.
Of course what they did was "legal" – they wrote the law and the justification to make it "legal" and please disregard the Constitution because it is an out-of-date, irrelevant piece of paper, according to the previous tenant. Just because they tell you what they do is "legal" doesn't make it Constitutional.
It's time we cleaned up the government and removed those who think they are above the law – even the ones they write themselves. If we don't begin the process of regaining our Constitution we will actually end of with that irrelevant piece of paper and everything they use to control us will be secret – not our concern – because we won't have legal standing since they would have removed any recourse we think we might have had.
Off course is legal.., its produced and managed by the government, and this government is so honest and transparent about its "legal" creations that people had to find out about it from a true patriots Mr. Snowden and privet Badly Manning and other patriots.
Its also legal to give George Zimmerman his gun back, 'cowards.'
'Litt went on to insist that all of the NSA’s surveillance programs are completely legal, and were secretly found to comply with secret interpretations of secret laws by secret US courts.'
well done.