(RightWing.org) – Two senators have demanded information from the Central Intelligence Agency, after accusing the spy service of concealing an illegal operation to collect data on American citizens.
On February 10, the Senate Intelligence Committee declassified a letter from two Democrat lawmakers to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and CIA Director William Burns, asking for an “expedited declassification request” on CIA use of bulk data that includes information about US citizens – data which the CIA allegedly collects and analyzes outside the law.
CIA collecting Americans’ data in ‘bulk’ without oversight, Sens. Ron Wyden and Martin Heinrich say https://t.co/USGk0n0e09 via @nypost
— Chris 🇺🇸 (@Chris_1791) February 11, 2022
The April 2021 letter, written by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM), reminds the intelligence chiefs laws passed by Congress protect Americans’ privacy by limiting or prohibiting warrantless record searches. However, the senators say, a 1981 executive order covers the CIA’s bulk data collection – Executive Order 12333 – but Congress hasn’t passed any law authorizing the activity.
In 2013, Wyden forced an admission from National Security Agency Director James Clapper, who said the agency doesn’t “wittingly” collect data on US citizens – but later that year, Edward Snowden revealed it does, on a huge scale. The CIA managed to avoid too much scrutiny on that occasion. But now, Wyden and Heinrich want the CIA to come clean about its activities. With the federal government grabbing more power over our lives than ever before, we have a right to know what information it’s collecting about us.
Copyright 2022, RightWing.org
