Politics > Politics-USA > Former NSA Officers Urges To Be Heard By Congress Regarding UnlawfulConduct By NSA
| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"tightwad" |
| Date: |
25 Dec 2005 09:33:26 PM |
| Object: |
Former NSA Officers Urges To Be Heard By Congress Regarding UnlawfulConduct By NSA |
Former NSA Intelligence Analyst & Action Officer Urges To Be Heard By
Congress Regarding Unlawful Conduct By NSA
Official's open letters to Intelligence Committees
by National Security Whistleblowers Coalition
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- (OfficialWire) -- 12/22/05 -- Russ Tice, former
National Security Agency (NSA) intelligence analyst and action officer,
has sent the following two letters to the chairs of the Senate and
House Intelligence Committees. Mr. Tice intends to report to Congress
probable unlawful and unconstitutional acts conducted while he was an
intelligence officer with the National Security Agency (NSA) and with
the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). These acts involved the Director
of the National Security Agency, the Deputies Chief of Staff for Air
and Space Operations, and the U.S. Secretary of Defense, and were
conducted via very highly sensitive intelligence programs and
operations known as Special Access Programs (SAP). SAP programs and
operations are more commonly referred to as "black world" programs
and operations. Mr. Tice was a technical intelligence specialist
dealing almost exclusively with SAP programs and operations at both NSA
and DIA.
Mr. Tice stated: "As a Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) officer it is
continually drilled into us that the very first law chiseled in the
SIGINT equivalent of the Ten Commandments (USSID-18) is that Thou shall
not spy on American persons without a court order from FISA. This law
is continually drilled into each NSA intelligence officer throughout
his or her career. The very people that lead the National Security
Agency have violated this holy edict of SIGINT." A pivotal question in
this case is whether Americans were being spied on via a vacuum cleaner
approach wherein vast amounts of information are sucked in. FISA
warrants require a name of the target and would not cover such a mass
approach. He also added: "In addition to knowing this fundamental
commandment of not violating the civil rights of Americans,
intelligence officers are required to take an oath to protect the
United States Constitution from enemies both foreign and domestic. It
is with my oath as a US intelligence officer weighing heavy on my mind
that I wish to report to congress acts that I believe are unlawful and
unconstitutional. The freedom of the American people cannot be
protected when our constitutional liberties are ignored and our nation
has decayed into a police state."
"These actions by the current administration are a compulsion to
secrecy, an expansive view of presidential authority, and reluctance to
answer to the people and Congress. Woodrow Wilson, himself no novice
concerning secrecy, claimed that it is a 'fair presumption that secrecy
means impropriety'. That is a presumption that we have been called upon
to suspend in the name of national security, but with recent
disclosures that suspended judgment appears to have been unwise. We
urge the congress to hold hearings and let patriotic witnesses like
Russ Tice testify," stated Sibel Edmonds, the director of National
Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC).
Michael Ostrolenk, National Director of the Liberty Coalition agrees
with Mrs. Edmonds and stated further "I am glad to know that Mr. Tice
takes his oath to the Constitution seriously. He obviously knows that
his obligation is not to this or any Administration but to our
Republican form of government with its proper checks and balances and
to protect the rights it was instituted to secure." He continued
"This is less about a particular Administration and more about the
natural tendency for government to become destructive to the very ends
it was created to fulfill. I hope that Congress takes it oversight
responsibilities seriously and investigates Mr. Tice's allegations in
an open and non-partisan manner."
Here is the letter by Mr. Tice, sent on Dec 18, 2005, to the Senate &
House Intelligence Committee:
Dear Chairman Roberts,
Under the provisions of the Intelligence Community Whistleblower
Protection Act (ICWPA), I intend to report to Congress probable
unlawful and unconstitutional acts conducted while I was an
intelligence officer with the National Security Agency (NSA) and with
the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). These acts involve the Director
of the National Security Agency, the Deputies Chief of Staff for Air
and Space Operations, and the U.S. Secretary of Defense.
These probable unlawful and unconstitutional acts were conducted
via very highly sensitive intelligence programs and operations known as
Special Access Programs (SAP)s. I was a technical intelligence
specialist dealing almost exclusively with SAP programs and operations
at both NSA and DIA.
Due to the highly sensitive nature of these programs and
operations, I will require assurances from your committee that the
staffers and/or congressional members to participate retain the proper
security clearances, and also have the appropriate SAP cleared
facilities available for these discussions.
Please inform me when you require my appearance on Capitol Hill to
conduct these discussions in relation to this ICWPA report.
Very Respectfully,
Russell D. Tice
Former Intelligence Officer, NSA
Tice, Russ; Former Intelligence Analyst & Action Officer, Air Force,
Naval Intelligence, DIA and NSA
Russ Tice worked technical intelligence issues as an all-source
analyst, systems instructor, special programs expert, technical
missions operations action officer, tasking agent, field intelligence
on-site analyst and liaison, and advanced capabilities officer. Known
as a stickler for technical detailed analysis and "by the book" on
security regs. After returning from a temporary overseas assignment in
2001, he observed that a DIA coworker exhibited the classic signs of
involvement in espionage. After quietly reporting this, his suspicion
was quickly dismissed by DIA's counterintelligence (CI) office. He
continued to observe activity to suggest there was a problem and
reported such. He returned to the National Security Agency and, busy
with the Iraqi War, dropped the issue. When noting a report that FBI CI
agents availed secrets to a China source for sex, he questioned the
FBI's competence. NSA retaliated by having him declared crazy,
revoking his security clearance, and terminating his employment in May
2005.
About National Security Whistleblowers Coalition
National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC), founded in August
2004, is an independent and nonpartisan alliance of whistleblowers who
have come forward to address our nation's security weaknesses; to
inform authorities of security vulnerabilities in our intelligence
agencies, at nuclear power plants and weapon facilities, in airports,
and at our nation's borders and ports; to uncover government waste,
fraud, abuse, and in some cases criminal conduct. The NSWBC is
dedicated to aiding national security whistleblowers through a variety
of methods, including advocacy of governmental and legal reform,
educating the public concerning whistleblowing activity, provision of
comfort and fellowship to national security whistleblowers suffering
retaliation and other harms, and working with other public interest
organizations to affect goals defined in the NSWBC mission statement.
For more on NSWBC visit www.nswbc.org.
About Liberty Coalition
The Liberty Coalition works to help organize, support, and coordinate
transpartisan public policy activities related to civil liberties and
basic human rights. We work in conjunction with groups of partner
organizations that are interested in preserving the Bill of Rights,
personal autonomy and individual privacy. The Liberty Coalition is
concerned about the threat to Americans' fundamental and inalienable
rights. The Coalition is dedicated to upholding and protecting our
basic rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In order to
accomplish our task, we seek to protect those freedoms as articulated
in the Bill of Rights. We base our concerns on the fundamental values
and principles of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S.
Constitution, particularly the separation of powers and federalism, and
Bill of Rights. These are also embodied in the 14th amendment,
especially the due process and privileges and immunities clauses. For
more on The Liberty Coalition visit www.libertycoalition.net.
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| Title: Re: Former NSA Officers Urges To Be Heard By Congress Regarding Unlawful Conduct By NSA |
26 Dec 2005 01:15:18 AM |
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On Sun, 25 Dec 2005 21:33:26 -0600, tightwad <@plum.net> wrote:
Under the provisions of the Intelligence Community Whistleblower
Protection Act (ICWPA), I intend to report to Congress probable
unlawful and unconstitutional acts conducted while I was an
intelligence officer with the National Security Agency (NSA) and with
the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). These acts involve the Director
of the National Security Agency, the Deputies Chief of Staff for Air
and Space Operations, and the U.S. Secretary of Defense.
Now that's an interesting law during these times.
http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1998_hr/ts061098.htm
http://www.fas.org/sgp/congress/s1668.html
Title VII: Whistleblower Protection for Intelligence Community
Employees Reporting Urgent Concerns to Congress - Intelligence
Community Whistleblower Protection Act of 1998 - Amends the Central
Intelligence Agency Act of 1949 to authorize a CIA employee or
contractor who intends to report to the Congress a complaint or
information with respect to an urgent concern to report to the
Inspector General (IG). Requires the IG, within 14 days, to transmit a
credible complaint or information to the DCI, who shall forward such
complaint or information to the intelligence committees within seven
days. Allows an employee to contact the intelligence committees
directly concerning such complaint or information in limited
circumstances. Defines a matter of "urgent concern" as: (1) a serious
or flagrant problem, abuse, violation of law or executive order, or
deficiency relating to the funding, administration, or operations of
an intelligence activity involving classified information; (2) a false
statement to the Congress on, or willful withholding from the Congress
of, an issue of material fact relating to the funding, administration,
or operation of an intelligence activity; or (3) an action
constituting reprisal in response to an employee's reporting of an
urgent concern.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d105:HR03694:@@@D&summ2=m&
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Just another albino black sheep
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