During his press conference on Friday, President Obama pledged to form an “independent” group of “outside experts” to review NSA surveillance practices. President Obama has appointed a point person for that independent, outside advisory board: The Director of National Intelligence who recently apologized for lying to Congress about NSA surveillance:
I think your admin. misunderstood what we meant by 'oversight' @barackobama. Clapper cannot be oversight for Clapper. http://t.co/tZSUKcOCdU
— JP (@jdotp) August 12, 2013
Well, if Holder can be oversight for Holder, then why wouldn’t the president think Clapper can be oversight for Clapper?
This is a joke, right? NSA head Clapper will form group to review NSA, and will personally report findings to Obama? http://t.co/4alW5WIKzt
— Craig Kohtz (@kohtz) August 12, 2013
No joke, at least not intentionally. According to the memo at WhiteHouse.gov, everything the “advisory board” recommends goes through the DNI James Clapper before it will be presented to the president:
Within 60 days of its establishment, the Review Group will brief their interim findings to me through the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), and the Review Group will provide a final report and recommendations to me through the DNI no later than December 15, 2013.
Here’s a suggestion worth noting:
If Clapper is involved, it might be a good idea to have an NSA review board review board.
— Jim Antle (@jimantle) August 12, 2013
That could get even worse, because there’s a good chance the “review board’s review board” would be headed up by Joe Biden.
Related:
Meet your new Big Brother: James Clapper releases ‘fact sheet’ on PRISM system
Join the conversation as a VIP Member