Where Were the NSA Watchdogs?

[babylonsister]

The Intelligence Watchdogs Who Tried to Stop the NSA Story

By David Nather | April 21, 2009 4:43 PM


The disclosure of Rep. Jane Harman's intercepted conversation with a suspected Israeli agent has created reactions on multiple fronts.

But one of the most overlooked angles has a deeper significance: Lawmakers who were supposed to provide oversight of the National Security Agency's warrantless eavesdropping program reportedly tried to keep the public from knowing about it.

Deep within The New York Times' followup to CQ's report about Harman's wiretapped conversation, the paper disclosed that in December 2005, Harman and other "congressional leaders" met with Philip Taubman -- then the chief of the Times' Washington bureau -- to urge the paper not to publish the story that revealed the NSA program's existence.

On the surface, that meeting could add credibility to reports that then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales intervened to stop an FBI investigation of Harman because he needed her help in supporting the NSA program.

But more broadly, the revelation of the Times meeting raises questions about the effectiveness of Congress' role as a watchdog over intelligence activities like the NSA program -- because the only lawmakers who would have known about it at the time were the ones who were supposed to provide oversight over the controversial initiative.

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http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/balance_of_power/2009/04/the-intelligence-watchdogs-who.html