Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman
dropped a bombshell Wednesday.
Sen. Bob Corker suggested Wednesday that a controversial National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance program should be broadened, saying he was "shocked" by the limited amount of data being collected.
"I think there was an 'aha' moment yesterday for people on both sides of the aisle when they realized how little data is being collected," the Tennessee Republican said at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast with reporters. "I think it's shocking to know this."
Senators huddled with administration officials, including FBI Director James Comey, late Tuesday afternoon as part of a classified briefing. Corker, who said he couldn't discuss the details of the meeting or what he believes are the gaps in the current program, suggested it was a "potential game changer."
That "game changer" comes as the House is set to pass NSA reforms that limit the collection of cell phone metadata of
all Americans. What more data could possibly be needed? Right now, here's what Sen. Ron Wyden and former Sen. Mark Udall—members of the Intelligence Committee and therefore "in the know"—
identified as falling under the scope of what can be collected by the NSA: credit card purchases, pharmacy records, library records, firearm sales records, financial information, as well as a "range of other sensitive subjects." Again, what more information could possibly be lacking other than the
content of the telephone calls they're collecting? And while we're told that the content is off-limits, we
now know they've been using voice-recognition technology to search masses of phone content.
Beyond what more information they could possibly be collecting, this statement from Corker brings up a few more key questions. Like whether the intelligence officials who gave this briefing have gone rogue and are bucking the administration, or the administration is lying when it says that it supports NSA reform. It's also possible Corker is lying through his teeth, but given the track record of what intelligence officials will say to Congress, that doesn't seem likely.
With the House set to pass the reform bill and the Senate still in flux, the intelligence community seems to be trying to use the Senate to derail the reforms and preserve the program. Which leads to the key question—where is the White House on this?
Tell Congress to let bulk collection of our metadata and other PATRIOT Act provisions expire.