Greenwald Identifies Several American Victims of NSA's Unconstitutional Domestic-Spying Operation

I have been waiting for the next piece of journalism from Greenwald regarding NSA domestic spying. Here it is:
The Intercept
Glenn Greenwald and Murtaza Hussain

According to documents provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, the list of Americans monitored by their own government includes:
• Faisal Gill, a longtime Republican Party operative and one-time candidate for public office who held a top-secret security clearance and served in the Department of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush; • Asim Ghafoor, a prominent attorney who has represented clients in terrorism-related cases;
• Hooshang Amirahmadi, an Iranian-American professor of international relations at Rutgers University;
• Agha Saeed, a former political science professor at California State University who champions Muslim civil liberties and Palestinian rights;
• Nihad Awad, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim civil rights organization in the country.

“I just don’t know why,” says Gill, whose AOL and Yahoo! email accounts were monitored while he was a Republican candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates. “I’ve done everything in my life to be patriotic. I served in the Navy, served in the government, was active in my community—I’ve done everything that a good citizen, in my opinion, should do.”

There are many more people who's Constitutional rights are being violated by the NSA. This is an affront to our ideals as a nation. Change is in the wind! Regardless of Snowden's personal issues, or what some believe of his motives, I think his actions in collecting and turning over to journalists a vast number of documents showing the egregious, and numerous ways the rights of American citizens are being disregarded, show that he committed an act of patriotism.

It gets ridiculous:

John Guandolo, a former FBI counterterrorism official who takes credit for developing a training program for agents on the “Muslim Brotherhood and their subversive movement in the United States,” told The Intercept that he participated in investigations of some of the individuals whose email accounts were monitored. Echoing the “red under every bed” hysteria of the McCarthy era, Guandolo believes that “hundreds” of covert members of the Muslim Brotherhood are active in the United States, that some of them have succeeded in infiltrating the Pentagon, and that CIA director John Brennan is a secret Muslim.

From a February 2013 US News & World Report article:

Former FBI agent John Guandolo incited an Internet buzz this week by accusing John Brennan, President Barack Obama's nominee to lead the CIA, of secretly converting to Islam while working as the CIA station chief in Saudi Arabia from 1996 to 1999. Guandolo's evidence was scant—largely that Brennan said during a public address that he "marveled at the majesty of the Hajj," something Guandolo says only could be done as a Muslim inside Mecca, a city that is off-limits to non-Muslims.

Another source, below, discussing Guandolo's claims. I have done very limited reading on this guy, but a preliminary glance shows pretty clearly that this is NOT the type of person who should be "trusted" to respect the FISA rulings, and/or the guidelines on surveilling Americans. Even if I find he is more moderate than these articles portray, THE POINT IS THIS: Government is made up of individuals, exercising discretion...ANOTHER REASON FOR CHECKS & BALANCES. It appears that individuals were/are given free reign to manage cases of spying on Americans. This is dismaying news.

The Blaze: Rumor-Check

The Intercept article discusses the use of racial slurs as placeholders in the required documents to obtain or extend a warrant (when operating under FISA).

There's more, but I will leave it at this.
This issue is more important than what is happening at the border.

Yeah and thank you for the CIA spying on us, formerly known as an ally, now as an espionage target.

a reply to: kkrattiger

After these additional revelations, our government who supposedly is to protect our civil rights will continue to claim Snowden as being a traitor. This is a black eye on our way of life here in the U.S.. If our own representatives won't stand up for someone who put their life on the line to expose government corruption, than it's up to the citizens of this country to stand up and defend our constitutional rights.

a reply to: WeRpeons

"If our own representatives won't stand up for someone who put their life on the line to expose government corruption, than it's up to the citizens of this country to stand up and defend our constitutional rights."
I appreciate the way you put that in words.

From the Opening Post -
The Blaze: Rumor-Check

I found this to be an exceptionally disturbing article. If what is said is even half true, then this country is in serious trouble. And at this point I have no reason to doubt the person reporting this.

Glenn Greenwald has resigned from The Guardian. I wonder if he had to do that in order to make more cutting edge revelations. This could well up the Ante if The Guardian itself starts releasing even more material. Very interesting indeed, this is more than just releasing a few names, this is about 'net service providers, along with names, no doubt someone will do a powerpoint exercise to see who is the most obliging, or that it may turn out that certain providers are not being coerced, but are part and parcel of the intelligence network itself.

Or we could just use names everyone else can say like bob or jim simple solution to a cultural problem

S & F. Thanks for bringing this here. I don't check The Intercept often enough, as they're somewhat slow at publishing new material (no complaints, can't rush the enormous amount of research they're doing.) But everything published by them has been top-notch investigative journalism, a rarity these days.

I'd love to be able to honestly say that I'm shocked by this, but... I'm not. I've suspected since June 5th, 2013 (date of first published Snowden revelation) that these programs would be abused for blackmail purposes. And here's the smoking gun. Or worse, that these constitutional violations are these program's intended purpose. They sure as hell didn't help to prevent Boston or Bengazhi, did they?

Any wonder why we can't get any politicians to stand up to this rogue, shadowy, 4th branch of government? They've got a stack of dirt a foot high (well, if we were still using paper) on each and every Representative, Congressman, Judge, and hell, probably even the interns and aides. Even thinking of running for office? They've got a dossier on you.

Secret courts issuing secret rulings about secret laws... Un-*BLEEP*-ing American.

Its also been reported that they would share info with DEA, who would then act on the info and disguise it as a "routine traffic stop" in court documents. Judges, defendants and their attorneys would have no way to know this had taken place, and therefore no way to defend themselves. The practice is known as "Parallel Construction," a law enforcement process of building a parallel - or separate - evidentiary basis for a criminal investigation in order to conceal how the investigation began.

In August 2013, a report by Reuters revealed that the Special Operations Division (SOD) of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration advises DEA agents to practice parallel construction when creating criminal cases against Americans that are actually based on NSA warrantless surveillance. The use of illegally-obtained evidence is generally inadmissible under the Fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine.

An example from one official about how parallel construction tips work is being told by Special Operations Division that: "Be at a certain truck stop at a certain time and look for a certain vehicle." The tip would allow the DEA to alert state troopers and search a certain vehicle with drug-search dogs. Parallel construction allows the prosecution building the drug case to hide the source of where the information came from to protect confidential informants or undercover agents who may be involved with the illegal drug operation from endangering their lives.

There's no telling how deep this rabbit hole goes, and who all has access to their database.

And then... *takes deep breath, counts to ten... serenity now...* I could rant on this all day so I'll cut myself off for now.



Sometimes, I can't help but laugh at the absurdity of these stooges to help stay sane, so here goes.

Guandolo believes that “hundreds” of covert members of the Muslim Brotherhood are active in the United States, that some of them have succeeded in infiltrating the Pentagon, and that CIA director John Brennan is a secret Muslim.

Huh. And people claim we're the crazy ones for belonging to a conspiracy discussion group. Wonder if Guandolo posts here too??

originally posted by: smurfy
Glenn Greenwald has resigned from The Guardian. I wonder if he had to do that in order to make more cutting edge revelations. This could well up the Ante if The Guardian itself starts releasing even more material. Very interesting indeed, this is more than just releasing a few names, this is about 'net service providers, along with names, no doubt someone will do a powerpoint exercise to see who is the most obliging, or that it may turn out that certain providers are not being coerced, but are part and parcel of the intelligence network itself.

I do think he resigned (if not forced to resign) to be able to cover this with more freedom and integrity. If you'll remember, the British Government forced the Guardian offices to destroy hard drives believed to contain the Snowden docs. Although, he is not the sole holder, many other journalists have been given access.


"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it."
— Mark Twain

originally posted by: CloudsTasteMetallic
Any wonder why we can't get any politicians to stand up to this rogue, shadowy, 4th branch of government? They've got a stack of dirt a foot high (well, if we were still using paper) on each and every Representative, Congressman, Judge, and hell, probably even the interns and aides. Even thinking of running for office? They've got a dossier on you.

Secret courts issuing secret rulings about secret laws... Un-*BLEEP*-ing American.

FISA was enacted exactly due to the illegal surveillance of people like Martin Luther King, Jr. At The Intercept article, there's video interviews where the fifth guy on the list, the one who founded the Council on Islamic Relations, paraphrases Obama's soundbyte: "If it weren't for Martin Luther King, Jr., I wouldn't be where I am today". The shortsightedness, contempt for history, willful disregard of What's Right, & of course, the hypocrisy really hurt me in my heart. I did not expect to feel a lump in the throat, the cringe of embarrassment & disappointment, that I feel because of all this. I thought I was too cynical.

And then... *takes deep breath, counts to ten... serenity now...* I could rant on this all day so I'll cut myself off for now.

I had to cut myself off in the O.P. One of the guys had been targeted under Bush's warrantless wiretapping era. He is an attorney who represented Middle Eastern clients. Attorney-client privilege was reduced to cinders. He won a lawsuit against the government, was awarded $20,000 plus $2.5 million for legal fees, which was then reversed because court found that although the government violated his rights, the government would not have to pay for it.
That's described in the article.

In Ghafoor’s case, however, the NSA appears to have gone beyond monitoring an attorney who represented clients in a case against the U.S. government. During the time he was monitored, from March 2005 until at least March 2008—at which point the NSA spreadsheet indicates that his surveillance was “sustained” for an unspecified period—Ghafoor was personally suing the government over its prior, illegal surveillance of his own communications.

Thanks to Edward Snowden, and the journalists who are writing stories based on his whistleblowing, we now know that the Obama administration is collecting oceans of our data. Martin Luther King Jr was a dissident, an organizer, a critic of US wars abroad and of poverty and racism at home. He was spied on, and his work was disrupted by the federal government.

–Dem ocracyNow!

this thread got lost in the traffic today and I think it's got some good information so I'm bumping it forward. ready?? BOOOM .... shameless bump!

Thank you for that!
I'm just glad to not be checking Greenwald's Twitter feed & The Intercept every few hours. I can relax now that the article which was so trumped up has been released. I wish there had been more individuals named, and of differenent ideologies/social/class groups. I think it would get more people's attention, than 5 intellectuals with money & prestige.
The reporting will continue, I hope!
a reply to: FlyersFan

originally posted by: FlyersFan
this thread got lost in the traffic today and I think it's got some good information so I'm bumping it forward. ready?? BOOOM .... shameless bump!

You're right. Why discuss something with far-reaching effects for everyone.... when we could be discussing the cops who want to take a picture of some kid's penis who was charged with "sexting?"

Sensationalism at it's finest.

Whats most striking to me about this article, is the emotional effect it gives when an actual name and face is put to the "targets." Really puts the human cost of what our gov has been doing into perspective.

I still wonder what the whole list would have looked like, as his original article was delayed due to government requests.

a reply to: CloudsTasteMetallic

I'll wager the list has names that sound more stereotypically American and includes more average citizens whose only crime is vocalizing their passionate views.

a reply to: CloudsTasteMetallic
Your Mark Twain quote got me looking into his work. I'd never read Innocents Abroad, & am doing so now. I spent my ATS time last night reading instead.

I wonder if the people he chose to include will help get high-profile lawyers and university groups involved in efforts to reduce the role of the NSA et.al. One of the named is a professor at Rutgers. a reply to: kosmicjack

Does anyone have an informed opinion on Greenwald's style of publishing stories? If he's politically savvy and strategic about things? I don't know much from having paid attention to his output; I only recently became engaged with this topic.

a reply to: kkrattiger

He's a pretty interesting guy. He's a lawyer, Gay and lives abroad, Brazil I think. It's debatable whether he is a conservative or a liberal. I think it's fair to say he's both, from reading his Salon articles, depending on the issue being discussed...he's very Constitutionally oriented. It's odd to me that he's so passionate and in tune with the crux of any American issue while still living abroad ..maybe the distance gives him perspective.

I know the basic "soundbyte" mediabytes of his background, i just haven't followed his reporting long, and don't know if he has an M.O. of reporting within or without the relevant media atmosphere. I hope the release of these 5 names was a measured tactic, else it may be ineffective compared to, like we've talked about, releasing the names of people with whom more "Americans" would identify.
a reply to: kosmicjack

originally posted by: kkrattiger
a reply to: CloudsTasteMetallic
Your Mark Twain quote got me looking into his work. I'd never read Innocents Abroad, & am doing so now. I spent my ATS time last night reading instead.

Great to hear! He's mostly known for Huckleberry Finn since most of us were made to read it in school, but he's got a ton of other great work. You might also like Kurt Vonnegut, great American writer and satirist, who lived in a more modern time, 1922-2007.

As far as opinions of Greenwald, I'm not too familiar with his work before the Snowden revelations. I am somewhat of two minds about him. Though he does seem to be fighting the good fight for journalistic integrity. His cooperation with government agencies regarding what to release are somewhat concerning to me, but I believe it's out of responsibility. Yes, some things do need to be kept a secret for national security, as much as thats become the blanket-excuse for wrongdoing. He's stated that he's opposed to a Wikileaks-style mass-dump of all the documents, to keep from outing any assets and endangering their lives.

At the same time, the slow-drip of stories and his approach of "But wait, there's more! The big story is coming soon!" comes off a bit like he's trying to prolong his newfound fame.

I guess i'm the odd man out here.

Who is theNSA supposed to be checking on, a 95 year old granny in a nursing home?

Seriously people? An Iranian and active Muslim activists, why shouldn't they be checked out?

Double standard on ATS again.