Comment by soraminazuki
2 years ago
He even inspired Snowden to expose the illegal mass surveillance programs. IIRC Snowden reached a breaking point when James Clapper, then director of national intelligence, lied under oath to Congress when pressed about domestic surveillance by senator Wyden.
It's sad we don't hear more about people like this in positions of power.
His position on it has been clear for a while:
2008: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Intelligence_Surveilla...
The votes: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/110-2008/s168
But this is a MUCH older issue: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A
And if you don't know about Quest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Nacchio
The entire time period of the Bush admin is a microcosm for unresolved issues of today: Voting machines, government over reach and spying, security, encryption, copyright, bad behavior by corporate entities (M$ has a cohort).
Good thing there is no penalties for lying under oath anymore. That pesky rule of law was so long in the tooth.
There are instead life destroying penalties being handed out to whistleblowers. What a world we live in.
The good thing is we live in a democracy - if we don't like it, we can fix it at the voting booth.
15 replies →
Um try that in a normal court as a citizen and you get your ass handed to you. Only the powerful get exceptions.
Viva la France
Penalties for whom? Clapper was bound by conflicting laws requiring both honesty and secrecy. This problem goes all the way to the root of government and legal system.
There are ways to respond to a question without violating secrecy and being dishonest. It’s like pleading the fifth, there are situations where it is acceptable to not tell the whole truth because it is counter to a law or personal right. In those instances the person needs to explicitly proclaim the basis in which they are obscuring the answer. Giving untruthful, absolute answers about the non-existence of something is inconsistent with the above.
The corruption of government begins with its secrets. A truly free people keep no secrets.
Google tells me perjury is still very much a thing. Do you have a source?
Hard to tell sarcasm in the written word, but I think you were replying to some.
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