Eliot Spitzer was busted in part because of the PATRIOT Act
According to a new poll, which was conducted after the news broke about the NSA’s spying scandal, 56% of Americans do not seem to have a problem with the program.
A majority of Americans – 56% – say the National Security Agency’s (NSA) program tracking the telephone records of millions of Americans is an acceptable way for the government to investigate terrorism, though a substantial minority – 41% – say it is unacceptable.
The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center and The Washington Post, conducted June 6-9 among 1,004 adults, finds no indications that last week’s revelations of the government’s collection of phone records and internet data have altered fundamental public views about the tradeoff between investigating possible terrorism and protecting personal privacy.
The PATRIOT Act was designed to monitor terrorist activity but somehow these people do not seem to have a problem with the NSA monitoring all Americans, many of whom have done nothing to justify the monitoring. Apparently they feel that if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear, and to be honest I used to feel the same way; correct me if I am wrong but doesn’t the ‘F’ in FISA stand for ‘foreign?’ How has the FISA court justified spying domestically on people who are not thought to be of criminal intent?
And what if the PATRIOT Act was used to go after non-terrorist related activity? If you do not think this is possible perhaps you should talk to Eliot Spitzer.
We all remember the high profile case of the former governor of New York who was busted banging high class prostitutes, right? His case was first brought to light because of the PATRIOT Act:
The Patriot Act was passed in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks under the pretext that American law enforcement agencies needed increased powers in order catch terrorists and prevent future carnage on American soil. But the powers granted in the Patriot Act aided law enforcement officials in uncovering former New York Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s dalliances with high-class prostitutes, which isn’t exactly a terrorism-related offense. Mark Hosenball explained how in Newsweek magazine in 2008:
The Patriot Act gave the FBI new powers to snoop on suspected terrorists. In the fine print were provisions that gave the Treasury Department authority to demand more information from banks about their customers’ financial transactions. Congress wanted to help the feds identify terrorist money launderers. But Treasury went further. It issued stringent new regulations that required banks themselves to look for unusual transactions (such as odd patterns of cash withdrawals or wire transfers) and submit SARs — Suspicious Activity Reports — to the government. Facing potentially stiff penalties if they didn’t comply, banks and other financial institutions installed sophisticated software to detect anomalies among millions of daily transactions. They began ranking the risk levels of their customers — on a scale of zero to 100 — based on complex formulas that included the credit rating, assets and profession of the account holder. …
The new scrutiny resulted in an explosion of SARs, from 204,915 in 2001 to 1.23 million last year [2007]. The data, stored in an IRS computer in Detroit, are accessible by law-enforcement agencies nationwide. “Terrorism has virtually nothing to do with it,” says Peter Djinis, a former top Treasury lawyer. “The vast majority of SARs filed today involve garden-variety forms of white-collar crime.” Federal prosecutors around the country routinely scour the SARs for potential leads.
Spitzer’s transactions were tagged, which ultimately led to suspicions he was accepting bribes, according to ABC News.
Because of his actions he was first caught by the PATRIOT Act although his actions had nothing to do with national security and from there we all know what happened.
I am not condoning his actions, and I am certainly not defending him, nor am I defending the actions of any American who is breaking the law, but here we have an example of the PATRIOT Act leading to the investigation of a non-terrorist related crime.
Now that we know the NSA is gathering data on virtually all Americans’ phone, email, and internet usage are we really to believe that the PATRIOT Act, and the NSA spying, will not be used to go after Americans for many more non-terrorist related crimes in the future? We are in the throes of a soft police state and it frightens me to think that a majority of the American people do not have a problem with what the NSA is doing.
Rate this:
Share this:
- Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
- Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
- Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
- Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket
- Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
- Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
- Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp
- Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window) Telegram
- Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
- Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
Related
Trackbacks
- The NSA spying program is bigger than you think, and bigger than the government is willing to admit | America's Watchtower
- The NSA spying program is bigger than you think, and bigger than the government is willing to admit | The D.C. Clothesline
- Dick Cheney defends the NSA data-mining program | America's Watchtower
- Barack Obama got the FISA court to loosen the restrictions on the NSA spying program in 2011 | America's Watchtower
- The CFPB hopes to monitor 80% of all credit card transactions | America's Watchtower
America's Watchtower 
Well, just for a change of pace, Bush is now has a more favorable rating than Obama in the latest poll. Apparently it just took a progressive to say spying on it citizens was a good thing to do the trick.
LikeLike
I saw that, how ironic is it that people are now longing for the “good ole days” now that it is too late to do anything about it?
LikeLike
We know it is just a matter of time before they will feel like the rest of us…of course we have known for years that they know everything they need to know about each of us.
LikeLike
They may feel like we do deep down inside, but they will never admit it.
LikeLike
This American has a HUGE problem with the violations of our Constitutionally protected Rights by the government in the name of rooting out terrorists and keeping us safe!!!!!
The Patriot Act is unconstitutional, everything created and perpetrated under the Patriot Act is unconstitutional also!
I’m really pissed! (can I say that?) Do none of our elected officials even care about the Constitution anymore? Their oath? Do they really believe that they can change the meaning of the Constitution, have SCOTUS just re-interpret our Rights to allow them to do what they want to do?
We’ve got Bloomberg saying this “While Bloomberg argued for reinterpreting the Constitution to allow more government power to violate the rights of all citizens, he also argued that any profiling of specific religious groups would be violative of American values. “I think one of the great dangers here is going and categorizing anybody from one religion as a terrorist. That’s not true … That would let the terrorists win. That’s what they want us to do. Clearly the Supreme Court has recognized that you have to have different interpretations of the Second Amendment and what it applies to and reasonable gun laws … Here we’re going to to have to live with reasonable levels of security.” Also that sometimes it’s ok to infringe on your Rights.
It’s not just Bloomberg, it’s elected officials all over the Country! It seems like every single day I read several articles about blatant Constitutional violations, politicians proposing outrageously unconstitutional legislation, our Senate is actually considering a bill that would negate the criminal actions of @11 million illegal aliens! WTF???? Is that what our Country is about now? The rule of law matters not? We send millions and millions of dollars to countries who HATE US; they burn our flag; they commit terrorists acts against us; they chant ‘death to America’; they torture and murder our Ambassador – and we give them money!!! W T F? Our politicians are insane! Then we have this – a report that “…the State Department–under Hillary Clinton–was involved in covering up scandals ranging from sexual abuse and prostitution, to underground drug rings.” Not to mention Benghazi and she plans on running for president???? And PEOPLE ARE SUPPORTING HER!!!
Serious overload here. Think I’ll play one of my hidden object games.
LikeLike
Yes Laura, you can say “pissed” here, this is a free speech zone! 🙂 I understand how you feel, it can get so frustrating at times watching our elected officials totally forget about the constitution. And the fact that Hillary could be the front runner after Benghazi is so sad because it means that people are still not ready to hold our elected officials responsible. Is it any wonder why they feel they can get away with anything they want?
LikeLike
Laura, our Congress has a handful of good guys/gals, but they are taken out quickly if they do too much damage…taken out by our own party sometimes! I think we should have 2 terms for Senators and Congressmen and Congresswomen, but what do I know. I think those “career” politicians need to be gotten out of there IF we are ever to get control back of our country. There is way too much money under the table going on and votes bought, at least that is my opinion. Pissed is such a polite way of referring to how you feel. I am sure if we had to describe how most of us feel HERE about our government in ONE word, you would get a very “flowery” use of words. Yes, things have gotten out of hand and daily I sit here and shake my head, thinking if George Bush had done any of it (he had his share of problems and was not perfect either) the media would be screaming! Obama and his administration can do and say what they want and the cover is usually there for them. I see a slight change in attitude in the Country, but do not know if it will be enough OR if it is too late for us…guess time will tell. We are on overload on “scandals” and that tells me that they might be doing it on purpose so we just stop listening and paying attention…a lot will do just that. Then there are the rest of us!!!!
LikeLike
Steve,
Our Country’s situation becomes more dire and accomplishing the goals of our Party (New Federalist Party) becomes more imperative day by day.
It is crystal clear that there is no Republican Party anymore – it’s democrat and democrat lite. Neither party has any interest in fixing our corrupt system, they are career politicians who are only interested in power, influence, and money.
However, we have millions of conservatives and some elected officials who care about the Country and doing what’s right for the people. People who believe in the Constitution, know our system is corrupt and must be changed. Those are the people we need to reach and share our plan.
LikeLike
lou222,
I completely! We have some good people in Congress. They aren’t able to accomplish much because the rest of Congress doesn’t care about the welfare of the Country and the People – just maintaining the status quo and staying in power. Term limits – absolutely!
We need to go further than that, though. Putting good people into a corrupt system won’t accomplish the changes we need to make. We have to make some huge, painful, unpopular changes to the way our government operates.
Elected officials are not our rulers, leaders, bosses. They don’t control us, they serve us! They aren’t the ‘elite’ they are the same as every other public servant – the same level as police, firefighters, mail carriers – they are on the same level as the lowliest public employee. We HAVE to stop treating them, and paying them, as if they are above us common folk. No one should get rich working for the government, being paid by the taxpayer. Some people believe we have to pay elected officials, government employees well & give them good benefits in order to attract good people. BULLSHIT! That’s what we do now – how’s that working out for our Country???
They deserve the same pay and insurance offered at other middle class jobs. NO PERKS and no lifetime pay and benefits – they get the same retirement income as other comparable jobs. They absolutely DON’T propose or vote on their own salary increases!!!
We need people who really want to SERVE, not people who are in it for power and money. I believe, and please point out errors in my reasoning, that this will attract the people who will follow the Constitution, put the Country and People first, who believe that representing the People is an honor and privilege, and will perform their duties accordingly.
LikeLike
Awww geeeee. lou222, my first sentence should be “I completely agree!” left out agree, lol.
LikeLike
I agree Laura, it is imperative that we get the New Federalist Party off the ground as soon as possible. You and Lou are right, neither the Republicans or the Democrats care about anything other than protecting their own power and influence.
Lou; Laura is a founding member of the New Federalist Party and we have released the first twenty articles of our platform, Unfortunately term limits is not one of the twenty released but we are debating it and hopefully will have it released shortly. I hate to be a tease but we have an interesting idea on term limits but I cannot discuss it until it is released.
LikeLike
Steve, I agree whole heatedly with what your saying. But I take your point even further, maybe to what some may say is an extreme. Let me state clearly, that I want any and everyone that is associated with terrorism or any kind of support, caught and done away with. However I ask this question then. Is it legal for any law enforcement/intelligence agency to simply walk into every single house in a city, while you’re gone and you’ve no idea that it happened, just to search and see if you have anything in your house that’s illegal? Maybe you’re a pot advocate and feel it’s ‘ok’ to buy an ounce here and there and enjoy it in the privacy of your home. This is probably illegal in most states. However, no one has the right to enter your home, “just to see if you are”. So then I ask, how is it any different with what the NSA is doing? They want to catch the terrorists, I get that, I want them to as well. But how is it that the NSA can just take information that is considered private, and solely our possession? The government says they want to know if “WE”, the people of this country,, American citizens are making calls to the bad guys ‘over there’. How is this any different than saying, ok, while ya’ll are at work and no one is home, we’re going into your homes to see if we can find people that are ‘illegally’ using pot? I”m in no way wanting to protect any American that is actually aiding terrorist groups, but since when you can you just dragnet everyone looking for this? And yet our politicians are saying “we’re ok with this?” So Bob down the street, has been calling and talking with a terrorist group, and actually sends this group financial aid. I want Bob gone. However, how can the NSA use any information that the government has taken without warrant? They say, well, we find numbers that we know are associated with terrorists, then go back and get a warrent to find out who it is that contacted them. Well, the “illegal search” they did up front, the dragnet would invalidate this would it, or should it not? If the police enter John Doe’s home without warrant, “just to see”, and then find a bag of pot laying on his living room table, can they now go back and GET a warrant, based on an illegal search?
LikeLike
I don’t think you are taking it too far at all, this is basically the same thing and don’t forget that after the marathon bombing the Mass. police did conduct house to house searches. That was a trial run.
LikeLike
Seems to me that they can and do just make up the rules as they go…who is going to stop them? If they want to bust you for something, I imagine they can come up with a reason. I do not like the “road blocks” that are set up for whatever reason and then they want your license and registration and some are asked to search the car….under what reason were you stopped? Probable cause? Of what? We are getting used to that, are check points in our near future to ask where we are going? Probably. We went out of state and at the rest stops that were the bigger ones that have maps and staff, we were asked where we were going, how long we were staying, where we were from and how many people in the car with us….invasion of privacy? THEY say it is to see how many people are using the rest stop…as far as I am concerned they could stop at asking just how many people in the car…my point is they know way to much about us now as it is and it will get worse if we allow it.
LikeLike
lou222,
They really think they can do whatever they want. Government thinks that they are the ones who decide what is legal, what is Constitutional, what powers they have, and that they can expand their current power or grant themselves new powers. THEY CAN’T! The federal government has ONLY the NARROW and LIMITED powers the Constitution grants it and it has NO AUTHORITY to change those powers in any way! This holds true for the judicial branch also. It is part of the federal government and has ONLY the power granted by the Constitution. They don’t decide Constitutionality of laws – they decide if the laws are being used in a Constitutional manner. They judge CASES based on the Constitution and the law – they don’t judge the law itself.
Constitutionality is decided by the People by way of state legislatures. Expanding current or granting new power is done by the People and ONLY by amending the Constitution!
The majority of our Country have no idea that this is how our government is supposed to function. They think the federal government can do whatever it wants and the People have to comply. They don’t understand that ‘We the People’ have the power.
How do we help people to understand this? How do we change this false ‘government all powerful’ mindset so many people have been deceived into believing?
LikeLike
Lou and Laura; there is a good reason why they think they can do whatever they want to and that is because they have been able to do whatever they want. If we do not get them under control soon there is no telling how far they will push this.
LikeLike
If we had the Patriot Act in 1998 the NSA could have run a DNA on Monuca’s jism stained blue dress and what if it proved to be from a Hillary nocturnal emission and Bill was taking the blame for her, huh? Then who would be the next president in 2017, huh? The lesbo vote alone wouldn’t be sufficient to carry her to victory.
‘
LikeLike
We have spent a hell lot of money and passsed all types of laws to stop terrosist yet we are no more secure. We have given up our freedom yet we still had 911, we couldn’t find Osama for years, we didn’t stop the Boston bombers. I think we are being handed a line that the government has prevented terror attacks.
The US Congress keeps passing laws that “we have to wait till their passed to find out what’s in them” The unintended consequences of these laws is never thought about. The Patriot Act is to complex to have been passed as a single law. The Congress seems more interested in catchy acronyms,
Time to stop “The Gang of Eight” Immigration Bill. This is another turkey that needs to be killed.
LikeLike
The immigration bill must be stopped at all costs!
I agree, I don’t see where we are any more safe than we were before the PATRIOT Act, we just have less freedom and have to worry about Big Brother listening in.
LikeLike
Steve a friend of mine on Facebook is ok with the NSA spying on us because he believes the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Below is my response. Sorry for it being so long.
The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or one? Who are you and what have you done with my good friend Jason!
Look Jason I love you like a brother but you’re not seeing the big picture here and how this “invasion of our privacy” undermines the republic. I agree the NSA could really care less about little ole you and me in the scheme of things; however an elected official, public figure, or corporate leader…well that might be a different story. Let’s say some prominent senator or leader surfs the net and visits some…errr how should we put it… “questionable” sites. Well this data is collected and stored somewhere. And if it’s stored it can be accessed. Now let’s say some unscrupulous administration wants to silence their political enemies. Now where could they possibly find some leverage to use against their opponent to blackmail or strong arm them? Wait a minute the information is already stored in a government database at the NSA. Too easy! So now they use it to blackmail the congressional leader in to voting a certain way or a corporation and/or public figure to throw their support behind a specific bill. That’s how the republic is undermined and you liberties are lost. Your elected official who is supposed to be representing you can no longer represent you because they fear the release of information by the blackmailer. Is it too much of a stretch to think this can happen? You say it can never happen in America? That the institutions of the government would never be used to target specific political groups to silence them…err wait that just happened (IRS). Ok…they would never use the institutions of government to distribute personal information about you to your political enemies to hurt you…oh wait that happened with the EPA releasing personal information about farmers to environmental groups. How about the government using drones to kill American citizens without due process or holding American citizens indefinitely without a trial if they’re tied to a terrorist group? Government is not benevolent Jason. Government is force.
George Washington said, “Government is not reason, it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” The 4th amendment matters because it protects the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures. If we don’t have that, we don’t have liberty my friend. And when we reach that point the needs of the many won’t matter anymore, because the needs of the one will be imposed on the many.
I often wonder if the AZTECS who were chosen for sacrifice to appease the gods believed the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the one…my guess is not.
Ben Franklin: “Those who would trade off liberty for security deserve neither.”
LikeLike
Well said John, I would love to hear if you convinced him he was wrong. He doesn’t appear to be looking at the bigger picture but you laid it out perfectly for him.
LikeLike
Excellent “sum-up”, John. I doubt that you will convince your friend, but there is hope for the others that read what you put. John is taking the easy way out by giving in, maybe that is what a lot of people are doing. Freedom can be gone in an instant and in our case it is being pulled out from under us as we speak, but most people are only interested in the game or who is having a party this weekend. Such Sheeple they are and when they finally realize something is wrong, they will be taking the rest of us with them.
LikeLike
John “”HE”” is taking the easy way out by giving in, maybe that is what a lot of people are doing. Sorry, left the “”HE”” word out.
LikeLike
The some politician is Obama and General Petraeus. I think Obama knew Petraeus’s secret and was able to use the information to make Petraeus do what he wanted .. take the blame for Benghazi. Petraeus was jettisoned as soon as his useful was used up
LikeLike
The FBI uncovered a private email from Petraeus and they took him down, it makes you wonder how they found that email in light of the spying scandal, doesn’t it?
LikeLike
I wasn’t aware of that information about the banks or Elliot Spitzer, Steve. Thanks for the update.
For those screaming about the Fourth Amendment, note that for the NSA metadata collection project, warrants were issued and are updated every three months. (Though it will be interesting to see how the update process goes next time around.)
The data are not analyzed, reviewed, or otherwise used. They’re simply stored. Warehoused, if you will. If the government wants to review it, it must get another warrant, specifically for the particular records to be reviewed.
Sure, a lot of what FISA does is secret, and that bothers me. But not enough to want to tear down what it’s taken two and a half centuries to build.
We have to stay ahead of the terrorists, who are not as dumb as we love to paint them (Suicide bomb instructor to students: “Watch carefully, I’m only going to do this once.”) Our hunt for bin Laden was set back years by CBS News, which broadcast a report in which the reporter mentioned that OBL and his people communicated by cellphones, and then noted that the US had developed the technology to pinpoint their whereabouts. From that moment on, OBL and all his people began using burner cellphones, use once and discard. That’s why sometimes, things have to be done in secret.
It’s good that we’re finally talking about this. Perhaps one useful thing that will come out of this debate is the acknowledgement that all sides are terribly concerned about the misuse of the data by the other side sometime down the road. It would be nice if we could establish a sunset date for the data – say, ten years after collection, maybe fifteen, after which point they’re destroyed.
Take good care, and may God bless us all!
TGY
LikeLike
You are welcome TGY, I had no idea about this either until I read this story. I actually can understand why they would be interested in unusual bank transactions, and I wish we could trust the feds to only use it for the purpose of finding terrorists but the Spitzer case has shown us that we cannot. I also understand why the feds followed up on Spitzer when they saw his transactions but it does show us that the PATRIOT Act can easily be expanded beyond its original intent and I find that troubling.
LikeLike
tgy,
“For those screaming about the Fourth Amendment, note that for the NSA metadata collection project, warrants were issued and are updated every three months. (Though it will be interesting to see how the update process goes next time around.)”
“Hayden, who served as NSA chief from 1999-2005 and is also a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, says the activities of the NSA are “perfectly legal” and “an accurate reflection of balancing our security and our privacy. The program of gathering phone record metadata, first detailed in The Guardian newspaper last week, is analogous to collecting the haystack in case you should suddenly need to find a needle, he tells NPR.”
Despite being ruled Constitutional, this activity is NOT Constitutional. The ultimate arbiter of Constitutionality is NOT 9 judges, it is the People. The creation of the States and the People – the federal government – does not determine what powers it has, it does not have the authority to expand its powers, and it does not have the authority to grant itself new powers. Only the People have that power. The People decided what powers the federal government – all three branches – were originally granted and ONLY the People can expand those powers and/or grant new powers. This can ONLY be done by amending the Constitution.
The mere fact that I own a cell phone does NOT give the government probable cause or justifiable grounds to collect and store my data. It is NOT balancing security and privacy. It is violating our privacy just in case they MIGHT someday have probable cause to SUSPECT the owner of ONE of those cell numbers MAY have some type of connection to terrorism. No, that’s wrong. These unconstitutionally granted powers are being abused and misused and they will continue to be unless we put a stop to it. Furthermore, what they are doing is not effective because they keep pushing to be granted more power to spy, to collect even more information, and restrict even more of our Rights, freedoms, and liberties.
FISA – foreign intelligence surveillance. I understand the need to protect our Country, to be aware of and protect against those who want to harm us. I understand the need for secrecy to prevent enemies from knowing what our LEOs are doing. They have gone too far.
The recent scandals regarding the abuse of the government’s power are alarming. The targeting of those who don’t think the ‘right’ way should chill everyone to the bone. The stonewalling, denials, and absolute refusal of our public servants to account for their illegal actions should have everyone demanding answers, a full accounting, and swift punishment of everyone involved. That so many people think there was no wrongdoing and there is no ‘there’ there has me greatly concerned and, as I said in my other comment, very angry!
P.S. Excellent comments on this blog article, friends. 🙂
LikeLike
Well said Laura!
LikeLike
Thanks, Steve.
I hope no one takes offense at the vehemence in my comments. I am not yelling or scolding or arguing with anyone in the comments section. I’m very passionate about this and very worried because so many people do not understand how the government has assumed powers the Constitution never granted it. Too many people accept control by the government because they don’t know the government has no authority to do many things they do. I’m just trying to let people know AND, hopefully, get them curious enough to investigate this for themselves.
Thanks,
laura
LikeLike
Laura, you won’t have a problem here with having an “opinion”. We all from time to time get a bit heated, but it is better that having no opinion at all.
That people allow their liberties to be taken from them shows just how much the country has been dumbed down. No one wants to step out of line for fear of being singled out and reprimanded.
There are so many more things to be concerned about, you know, like watching the game or what the Kardashians are wearing, you know the “important” things. With all the reality shows on the tube, that seems to be what is focused on. I doubt many watch C-span 1-2-3 or even know what channels they are on, to see how Congress is voting or to watch a hearing. I guess they figure that our Government will just run itself, but when the shit hits the fan, will they have the deer in the headlights look? Guess it remains to be seen.
LikeLike
Laura, Lou is right, there is nothing wrong with having an opinion here and there is no problem with feeling passionate about an issue here either, I welcome all viewpoints, even those who disagree and I think the debate is healthy and necessary.
LikeLike
lou, Steve,
Thanks. 🙂 My comment was aimed more towards those who maybe don’t comment as regularly as some do. I appreciate your supportive comments very much. I just wanted to make sure all know my concern, anger, and dismay regarding the circumstances of our Country isn’t directed towards the great people who comment on this wonderful blog.
LikeLike
No problemo. 🙂 Thanks for the compliment.
LikeLike
This is a copy of a comment I originally posted at mspbwatch.net: http://mspbwatch.net/2013/06/15/barack-obama-liar/
This NSA snooping on ordinary citizens answers a very nagging question I’ve had since Obama absconded on his promise of transparency in government and from the one issue that is very near and dear to my heart: protection for government whistleblowers. As a father of young children like himself, I always consider breaking a promise as something that can’t be taken lightly, especially when that promise has a profound effect on their future. There has to be a very important, much bigger reason for him to break his promises, that he in effect, made to his children and the future generations. Snowden’s revelation provided the only logical answer: NSA had incriminating dirt on him, long before he even became Candidate Obama. If you were the NSA, seeing that your GOP benefactors will be surely banished from power for a while, wouldn’t you start gathering some bits and pieces about your future adversary that you can use later when it’s time to negotiate for your survival? I believe they found a lot of very dirty bits and pieces in Obama’s associations with Rezco and the Chicago Gang. I wonder if the spies even helped Obama, without his knowledge, in his surprising defeat of the “cleaner” Hillary Clinton, in the primaries. Maybe they even helped Obama set up Benghazi to destroy Hillary before she starts having ideas of running in 2016. Snowden’s assertion that he had the “authority” to spy on anyone including the President doesn’t sound such a loon’s delusion anymore.
LikeLike