Senators' Letter to DNI Clapper on NSA Surveillance
A group of twenty-six senators yesterday wrote to DNI James Clapper, and inquired about the executive branch's application of the USA PATRIOT ACT---chiefly, it seems, the "business records" provision set forth in Section 215 of the statute.
The missive concludes with this volley of questions:
- How long has the NSA used PATRIOT Act authorities to engage in bulk collection of Americans' records?
Published by The Lawfare Institute
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A group of twenty-six senators yesterday wrote to DNI James Clapper, and inquired about the executive branch's application of the USA PATRIOT ACT---chiefly, it seems, the "business records" provision set forth in Section 215 of the statute.
The missive concludes with this volley of questions:
- How long has the NSA used PATRIOT Act authorities to engage in bulk collection of Americans' records? Was this collection underway when the law was reauthorized in 2006?
- Has the NSA used USA PATRIOT Act authorities to conduct bulk collection of any other types of records pertaining to Americans, beyond phone records?
- Has the NSA collected or made plans to collect Americans' cell-site location data in bulk?
- Have there been any violations of the court orders permitting this bulk collection, or of the rules governing access to these records? If so, please describe these violations.
- Please identify any specific examples of instances in which intelligence gained by reviewing phone records obtained through Section 215 bulk collection proved useful in thwarting a particular terrorist plot.
- Please provide specific examples of instances in which useful intelligence was gained by reviewing phone records that could not have been obtained without the bulk collection authority, if such examples exist.
- Please describe the employment status of all persons with conceivable access to this data, including IT professionals, and detail whether they are federal employees, civilian or military, or contractors.
Wells C. Bennett was Managing Editor of Lawfare and a Fellow in National Security Law at the Brookings Institution. Before coming to Brookings, he was an Associate at Arnold & Porter LLP.
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