Trump's Spy Chief Urged to Declassify Details of Secret Surveillance Program: Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national
Gabbard, like other Cabinet members will not do a thing Unless Musk-Trump give them permission.
Trump’s Spy Chief Urged to Declassify Details of Secret Surveillance Program
Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, has long held anti-surveillance views. Now she oversees a key surveillance program she once tried to dismantle.
https://www.wired.com/story/tulsi-gabbard-declassify-details-of-secret-surveillance-program/?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us
Dell Cameron Security Mar 6, 2025 4:59 PM
Former US congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard’s ascendance to director of national intelligence last month signaled a major shift in views toward government surveillance at the highest rung of the US intelligence community. While backing down from some of her more extreme anti-surveillance views in the run-up to her confirmation, Gabbard nevertheless held fast to a few promises of reform that have been traditionally eschewed by federal law enforcement leaders.
Now, some of the nation’s premier civil liberties organizations have begun lobbying America’s “top spy” to follow through on a pledge to bring about new levels of oversight and transparency to a key US surveillance program that’s long been plagued by reports of misuse.
Led by the American Civil Liberties Union, at least 20 major privacy groups this week urged Gabbard to declassify information concerning Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)—the nation’s cornerstone wiretap authority that, while aimed at collecting intelligence on foreigners overseas, is known to vacuum up large quantities of calls, texts, and emails belonging to Americans.
In a letter first obtained by WIRED, the groups privately urged Gabbard this week to declassify information regarding the types of US businesses that can now be secretly compelled to install wiretaps on the US National Security Agency’s (NSA) behalf.
While it’s no secret that the government routinely compels phone and email service providers like AT&T and Google into conducting wiretaps, Congress passed a new provision last year expanding the range of businesses that can receive such orders. Legal experts had warned in advance that the provision was far too ambiguous and likely to vastly increase the number of Americans whose communications are wiretapped. But their warnings were not heeded....................