DOJ Investigation into Domestic Surveillance Program Blocked On Security Grounds

Justice Department Probe Foiled, by Shane Harris and Murray Waas, National Journal: “An internal Justice Department inquiry into whether department officials — including Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and then-Attorney General John Ashcroft — acted properly in approving and overseeing the Bush administration’s domestic eavesdropping program was stymied because investigators were denied security clearances to do their work. The investigators, however, were only seeking information and documents relating to the National Security Agency’s surveillance program that were already in the Justice Department’s possession, two senior government officials said in interviews.”
Related legal documents, commentary, opinion and postings:

EFF press release: Key Portions of Critical Documents Unsealed in AT&T Surveillance Case – and in PDF (redacted text), Technician Describes Secret NSA Room at AT&T Facility

New Yorker, National Security Dept. – Listening In, by Seymour M. Hersh, posted May 22, 2006: “A security consultant working with a major telecommunications carrier told me that his client set up a top-secret high-speed circuit between its main computer complex and Quantico, Virginia, the site of a government-intelligence computer center. This link provided direct access to the carriers network corethe critical area of its system, where all its data are stored.”

Computerworld: NSA’s alleged phone-records program puts spotlight on data mining – “…Narus’ traffic processing engine can inspect data at speeds of up to 10Gbit/sec. while performing deep inspections of the content of network packets, including telephone calls, e-mail text and streaming video..”

Computerworld – Opinion: Why NSA spying puts the U.S. in danger – A former analyst looks at the agency’s current controversy

Can Data Mining Catch Terrorists?

Postings on domestic surveillance program

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