How Obama's Response To NSA Spying Has Evolved
A team of surveillance experts on Wednesday delivered preliminary recommendations to the White House on whether and how to amend U.S. spying policies.
President Obama appointed the Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technology, as it is officially known, as part of his response to global outrage over secret American surveillance programs. The panel's task is to advise the administration on how best to balance security needs against privacy concerns.
The group briefed National Security Adviser Susan Rice, counterterrorism adviser Lisa Monaco and other staff from the National Security Council at the White House, according to NSC spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden. This was an oral presentation, with the final written report due by Dec. 15. Parts of the group's final conclusions will be made public, while the full report will remain classified.
Obama has said he will rely on these recommendations to chart a new path forward for U.S. spying policy. But the president evolved to reach that position, gradually adjusting his response over five months of steady leaks from former defense contractor Edward Snowden.
The spying programs disclosed since June have touched on American people, major companies, world leaders and foreign citizens. The first big story revealed that the National Security Agency was collecting data from Verizon customers in the U.S.
Back then, the White House reaction amounted to: Move along, there's nothing to see here.
"The last thing they'd be doing is taking programs like this to listen to somebody's phone calls," Obama said of the National Security Agency in his first public comments about the leaks.
Obama insisted that cyberspies were not abusing their authority. Rather, he said, they were simply doing everything in their power to stop the next terrorist attack.
"They cherish our Constitution," he insisted.