Obama ‘Disagrees’ With Oversight Report on NSA Illegality

Spokesman: We Simply Disagree

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board is just the latest in a series of reports from experts issuing a report declaring thje NSA’s telephone metadata program illegal, unconstitutional, and totally unnecessary.

President Obama has tried his darnedest to ignore such reports in the past, even when they came from review panels he appointed. There’s no ignoring this one, however.

The White House responded to a 238 page report filled with legal and constitutional arguments about the crimes of bulk surveillance with a statement saying President Obama “simply disagrees.”

Instead of addressing the concerns of legal experts, constitutional experts, and privacy advocates, the White House referred people to the ruling of a single federal judge, who said 9/11 made essentially anything President Obama wants to do “reasonable” and therefore constitutional.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.