memeorandum: Cheney defends NSA surveillance (Jennifer Epstein/Politico)

2:00 PM ET, June 16, 2013

Top Items:

Declan McCullagh / CNET:

NSA admits listening to U.S. phone calls without warrants — National Security Agency discloses in secret Capitol Hill briefing that thousands of analysts can listen to domestic phone calls. That authorization appears to extend to e-mail and text messages too.

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Crooks and Liars, Hot Air, Doug Ross, Weasel Zippers, Balloon Juice, The PJ Tatler, americanthinker.com, Althouse, Ed Driscoll, Little Green Footballs, The Verge, Guardian, The Huffington Post, National Review and Patterico's Pontifications

Barton Gellman / Washington Post:

U.S. surveillance architecture includes collection of revealing Internet, phone metadata — On March 12, 2004, acting attorney general James B. Comey and the Justice Department's top leadership reached the brink of resignation over electronic surveillance orders that they believed to be illegal.

Discussion: New York Times, Hullabaloo, The Verge, Lawfare, emptywheel, Post Politics, The Volokh Conspiracy and Balloon Juice

Julian Sanchez:
Nadler and Mueller on Analysts Getting Call and E-mail Content

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, emptywheel and Hit & Run

BuzzFeed:
Video: Congressman Claims He Was Told Government Could Listen To Phone Calls Without A Warrant [[Update]]

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Mark Hosenball / Reuters:
U.S. spy agency paper says fewer than 300 phone numbers closely scrutinized

Discussion: emptywheel

Jennifer Epstein / Politico:

Cheney defends NSA surveillance — Critics of the National Security Agency's surveillance programs are wrong in their views because terror threats persist, former Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday. — Cheney was deeply involved in revamping national security programs after Sept. 11 …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Hinterland Gazette

Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:

Dick Cheney Laughs Off Privacy Concerns Over Government Surveillance — Former Vice President Dick Cheney (R), whose false statements helped propel the United States into an eight year war in Iraq, said Sunday that citizens should simply “trust” the federal government on matters of privacy and security.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Prairie Weather

Ben Geman / The Hill:

McDonough: Obama will speak about NSA — White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said President Obama will make more remarks about National Security Agency telephone data and internet surveillance programs in the coming days. — McDonough, speaking on CBS on Sunday …

Discussion: Politico

Erik Wasson / The Hill:

Cheney calls Snowden a ‘traitor,’ defends NSA surveillance programs — Former Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday defended the National Security Agency's data surveillance programs and labeled admitted leaker Edward Snowden as a “traitor.” — “I think he's a traitor...I think he has committed crimes …

Discussion: Politico, Scared Monkeys and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Associated Press:
Officials: NSA programs broke plots in 20 nations

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Gawker and CNN

The Boston Globe:

A 13-point gap with 10 days to go, but disengaged voters remain unpredictable — Democrat Edward J. Markey holds a solid lead over his Republican rival, Gabriel E. Gomez, as the two enter the final week of the special US Senate campaign, according to a new Boston Globe poll.

Discussion: CNN and Outside the Beltway

Chris Johnson / Washington Blade:
Gabriel Gomez endorses ENDA

Discussion: Blue Mass Group and Towleroad News #gay

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:

Rubio: Obama ‘failed’ in Syria — Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) hailed efforts to arm opposition forces seeking to topple Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad, but said President Obama's decision to aid the rebels may have come too late. — “Timing matters and these were options that were there for us …

Discussion: Politico

Ashley Killough / CNN:
Menendez: Time to ‘tip the scales’ in Syria

Discussion: The Hill and Politico

Robert Fisk / The Independent:

Iran will send 4,000 troops to aid Bashar al-Assad's forces in Syria — World Exclusive: US urges Britain and France to join in supplying arms to Syrian rebels as MPs fear that UK will be drawn into growing Sunni-Shia conflict — Washington's decision to arm Syria's Sunni Muslim rebels …

Discussion: Israel Matzav and BBC

Ramzy Mardini / New York Times:
Bad Idea, Mr. President

Discussion: Jerusalem Post, Washington Monthly and The Huffington Post

Paige Lavender / The Huffington Post:
Sarah Palin On Syria: ‘Let Allah Sort It Out’ (VIDEO)

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, ABCNEWS, Taylor Marsh and The Raw Story

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Bill Schools Barry on Syria — WASHINGTON — NOT only is President Obama leading from behind, now he's leading from behind Bill Clinton. — After dithering for two years over what to do about the slaughter in Syria, the president was finally shoved into action by the past and perhaps future occupant of his bedroom.

Discussion: Althouse and Prairie Weather

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:

Sen. Rubio says most of immigration reform bill in ‘perfect shape’ — Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Sunday said that much of the Gang of Eight's immigration reform bill was in “perfect shape,” but added he would insist on tougher border security measures. — Rubio, one of the authors of the bill …

Discussion: CNN and Politico

Jennifer Epstein / Politico:

Jeb on 2016: ‘Split ballot’ among his parents — Former President George H.W. Bush wants son Jeb to make his own run for the White House, the former Florida governor hinted in an interview that aired Sunday. — Jeb Bush's mother, Barbara, said earlier this year that there have been …

Discussion: CNN