Edward Snowden and others have exposed us to the breadth of unsupervised spying on American citizens who have committed no crimes.
I have a question: What is to prevent an NSA subcontractor from reviewing e-Mail, land-line and wireless communications and passing that information to partisan campaigns? I will discuss two hypothetical examples below.
Congressional staffers are be present during many closed-door meetings in preparation for Homeland Security, Intelligence, Emerging Threats and Capabilities, Terrorism, HUMINT, Analysis and Counterintelligence, etc. hearings. Many staffers have developed close working relationships with not only officials of the departments and agencies their boss oversees but many subcontractors who perform the bulk of the electronic data collection and review. Many Congressional staffers are very partisan.
While I believe the overwhelming number of congressional staffers uphold the highest ethical standards that cannot be said of all Congressional staffers. Let’s say a congressional staffer approaches a subcontractor with whom he or she has dealt with since the subcontractor was awarded a contract to perform services for the NSA during the Bush-Cheney administration and the contractor is known to donate to partisan committees. Two people conspire to pass highly confidential information gleaned from electronic communications between a candidate’s advisers and the candidate’s campaign committee to an opponent’s campaign adviser or manager.
Another hypothetical: an individual is hired to advise or manage a Congressional or Senatorial campaign. The individual formerly worked for a contractor providing “intelligence” services to a security department or agency. The individual has a great deal of knowledge of the nature of the communications that are collected and who has access to review those communications at his former employer’s place of business. All that individual needs to do is provide a few telephone numbers and e-Mail addresses for those communications to be reviewed by a “friendly” subcontractor and any useful information will be provided to a campaign adviser or manager.
Gov. Snyder’s campaign for reelection in Michigan has used some high-tech devices to spy upon his opponent’s campaign activities. Where, oh, where will the spying end and how will it shape our democracy? Will this "oversight" end the American democracy?