- Edward Snowden has accused National Security Agency (NSA) of revealing only parts of his email queries to the agency, and of withholding emails enquiring about indefensible collection activities.
- He also asked the US govt to enquire with his former colleagues and management regarding him voicing concerns over the improper and unconstitutional surveillance activities instead of merely believing the tailored story of NSA.
- NSA had argued that his mails were inquiring into certain legal authority of the mass surveillance programmes and had not challenged its very legality.
- In his mails, Snowden had asked the NSA legal counsel regarding The Hierarchy of Governing Authorities and Documents, over whether Executive Orders have the same precedence of law.
- This was because the hierarchy of legal authority is listed as:
- U.S. Constitution
- Federal Statutes/Presidential Executive Orders (EO),
- Department of Defense (DoD) and Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) regulations
- NSA/CSS Directives and Policies
- The reply mail stated that Executive Orders have the force and effect of law, and cannot override a statute.
- It is believed that Snowden may have been trying to establish whether espionage activities may have been conducted under executive orders instead of laws passed by Congress.
- Read at: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/only-part-of-correspondence-released-says-snowden/article6068325.ece
Exams Perspective:
- Project PRISM
- Snooping
- Metadata