Top NSA officials struggled over surge in Foia requests, emails reveal

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National Security Agency officials wrestled for weeks with how to respond to an unprecedented surge in open records requests from members of the public in the wake of the first mass surveillance revelations from Edward Snowden almost a year ago.

Newly released NSA emails, obtained by the Guardian under a Freedom of Information Act (Foia) request filed last November, reveal that top officials discussed how to fend off journalists, advocacy groups and individuals who flooded the agency with more than 1,000 requests between 5 June and 25 June last year for classified data related to the former contractor’s disclosures.

The Guardian published the first Snowden story, revealing a secret court order that allowed the NSA the phone records of millions of US citizens, on 5 June. The following day, details of the Prism program were revealed by the Guardian and the Washington Post.

The NSA is one of the few US government agencies virtually exempt from open records laws because its activities are considered properly classified under a presidential executive order and many Foia exemptions.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/29/nsa-emails-foia-requests-snowden-leaks

[Jefferson23]

1. Yea, that confidence builder is shot to hell:

*Nate Jones, the Foia coordinator for George Washington University's National Security Archive, said the public should not be fooled by the NSA's attempts to portray the agency as being genuinely concerned with transparency.

“For those who believe the public has the right to know what information the NSA is allowed to collect the conclusion drawn in this case is that the Snowden leaks worked and the Freedom of Information Act did not,” he said.


One aspect of many that concerns me is who amongst so many emails and phone calls wave,
involves court cases, criminal and civil..attorneys and clients do speak about sensitive information.
How do we know there won't be a black market for information..I guess I am too worried about
the abuses for political purposes and an assortment of unfair advantages.

What good is ever going to come from this, it is crazy.


K&R

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2. I expect that will result in litigation in perpetuity.

Every good defense attorney will bring it up when they can, and that is why they were "laundering" the intel before they used it in court in the first place.

[Jefferson23]

3. Ok, so I am not too paranoid then..the concerns are real.

This is such an ugly thing, truly..it is awful.

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4. I think it has only just begun. nt