Intelligence leaders push back against leakers, media [View all]

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Source: Washington Post

Top intelligence officials in the Obama administration and Congress are pushing back against journalists responsible for revealing the existence of sensitive surveillance programs and calling for an investigation into who leaked the information.

Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. said in an interview late Saturday that the National Security Agency has launched a Justice Department investigation into the leaks to determine who is responsible.

But he also sought to spotlight the media who first reported the programs, calling their disclosures irresponsible and full of “hyperbole.” Earlier Saturday, he had issued a statement accusing the media of a “rush to publish.”

“For me, it is literally — not figuratively — literally gut-wrenching to see this happen because of the huge, grave damage it does to our intelligence capabilities,” Clapper told NBC’s Andrea Mitchell.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/intelligence-leaders-push-back-on-leakers-media/2013/06/09/fff80160-d122-11e2-a73e-826d299ff459_story.html

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The Guardian: "US surveillance has 'expanded' under Obama, says Bush's NSA director"

Asked on Fox News Sunday how Obama had dealt with NSA programs since coming to office, Hayden replied: "In terms of surveillance? Expanded (the programs) in volume, changed the legal grounding for them a little bit – put it more under congressional authorisation rather than the president's Article 2 powers – and added a bit more oversight. But in terms of what NSA is doing, there is incredible continuity between the two presidents."