Exclusive: National Security Agency Whistleblower William Binney on Growing State Surveillance

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form. JUAN GONZALEZ: Today we bring you a Democracy Now! special on the growing domestic surveillance state and the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to spy on dissident journalists and activists. In a national broadcast exclusive, we’re joined by National Security Agency whistleblower William Binney. He was a key source for James Bamford’s recent [exposé] in Wired Magazine about the NSA—how the NSA is quietly building the largest spy center in the country in Bluffdale, Utah. Binney served in the NSA for over 30 years, including a time as director of the NSA’s World Geopolitical and Military Analysis Reporting Group. AMY GOODMAN: We’re also joined by two individuals who have been frequent targets of government surveillance: Laura Poitras, the Academy Award-nominated filmmaker, and Jacob Appelbaum, a computer security researcher who has volunteered with WikiLeaks. WILLIAM BINNEY: Almost four. AMY GOODMAN: Almost four decades.

Exposed: Inside the NSA’s Largest and Most Expansive Secret Domestic Spy Center in Bluffdale, Utah This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form. NERMEEN SHAIKH: A new exposé in Wired Magazine has revealed new details about how the National Security Agency is quietly building the largest spy center in the country in Bluffdale, Utah, as part of a secret NSA surveillance program codenamed "Stellar Wind." According to investigative reporter James Bamford, the NSA has established listening posts throughout the nation to collect and sift through billions of email messages and phone calls, whether they originate within the country or overseas. AMY GOODMAN: In addition, the NSA has also created a supercomputer of almost unimaginable speed to look for patterns and unscramble codes. James Bamford joins us now from London, England. James Bamford, welcome to Democracy Now! JAMES BAMFORD: I’ll give it a try. “The spring air in the small, sand-dusted town has a soft haze to it, and clumps of green-gray sagebrush rustle in the breeze. JAMES BAMFORD: Sure. [break] REP. GEN. REP. GEN.

Attorney in Wiretapping Case Says Obama Admin as Bad or Worse than Bush on State Secrets We turn now to a major rebuke of the Bush administration spy program and what it could mean for state secrecy under the Obama White House. Last week a federal judge ruled the National Security Agency’s warrantless surveillance program was illegal. Chief Judge Vaughn Walker of the federal district court in San Francisco ruled the government illegally intercepted the phone calls of an Oregon-based Islamic charity called Al-Haramain in 2004. Both the Bush and Obama administrations had tried to dismiss the suit, claiming a trial could result in the release of state secrets. Yesterday I spoke to one of the attorneys representing the Islamic charity. What happened to the charity was that after the National Security Agency warrantless wiretap program was instituted, conversations between directors of the charity, who were outside of this country, and lawyers representing the charity, primarily in the Washington, DC area, were intercepted. Can you tell us exactly what this document said? Right.

Conspiracy Site Disclose.TV Seized By Internet Terrorism Taskforce April 15th, 2012 (HigginsBlog) – The popular internet conspiracy forum and website Disclose.TV has apparently been seized by the US Internet Security Terrorism Task Force according to a notice on the site. A notice on the Disclose.TV website says the site has been seized after the U.S. government obtained a warrant from Maryland to seize the domain, apparently for terrorism related activities. The site often links to and discusses articles here and on other popular alternative media websites. Disclose TV Conspiracy Forum Seized By Terrorism Task Force Specifics are unknown at this point and it is entirely possible that this is a hoax as the notice says the domain was seized after the U.S.

U.S. Terror Agency To Tap Citizen Files