Member of Congress Asks Intel Agencies If They're Surveilling Members of Congress

Do America's intelligence agencies cast their shadow on the halls of Congress as well?

by Thomas Neuburger

"Collect it all."
—NSA chief Keith Alexander in 2005

This story is both very recent and old. The recent part: On August 28, 2020, a middling Democratic backbencher, "big Pharma shill" and reliable Pelosi loyalist, Rep. Anna Eshoo, asked the heads of two of America's spy agencies, the NSA and the DNI, if they were spying on Congress:

Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, asked two intelligence agencies on Friday if surveillance has been conducted on members of Congress in the last decade.

In a letter to the heads of the National Security Agency (NSA) and Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), Eshoo raised alarm over allegations in a book published earlier this year by journalist Barton Gellman. The book included claims about an NSA surveillance tool used by former contractor Edward Snowden to allegedly search for communications associated with a House member's publicly listed official email address where constituents can contact their office.

Eshoo further pointed to a claim from Snowden in the book that he “wiretapped the internet communications" of the so-called Gang of Eight — the heads of the House and Senate Intelligence committees and top party leaders in both chambers — as well as the Supreme Court.

Barton Gellman released Dark Mirror: Edward Snowden and the American Surveillance State in May 2020, and apparently its revelations are just being absorbed by those who roam the halls of power.

The Business They're In

This story is remarkable for three reasons. First, that Rep. Eshoo actually cared enough to write the letter. Second, that Pelosi let her.

But third, and more importantly, that they don't already know the answer, given how old this story actually is. Spying on people is the business they're in, it's why they exist at all.

From January 2014: "The NSA has refused to confirm or deny that it is collecting information on the communications and email activities of members of Congress after being questioned directly by Bernie Sanders, one of two of the Senate's only independents."

From July 2014: "An internal investigation by the C.I.A. has found that its officers penetrated a computer network used by the Senate Intelligence Committee in preparing its damning report on the C.I.A.’s detention and interrogation program. The report by the agency’s inspector general also found that C.I.A. officers read the emails of the Senate investigators and sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department based on false information, according to a summary of findings made public on Thursday."

As far back as 2005, NSA chief Gen. Keith Alexander (the NSA is a Pentagon operation) declared his agency's position on data collection: Why look for a needle in a haystack? he asked. "Collect the whole haystack. Collect it all."

We Wonder Why They Wonder

Rep. Eshoo asked, do our intelligence agencies spy on members of Congress? In light of their history, including what's been known about them almost since their founding, what’s the reason to presume they don’t?

The more important question is the one she didn't ask: If you are spying on us, how do you use the information? The two most common uses for covert wiretaps are blackmail and prosecution. Just saying.