memeorandum: NSA admits listening to U.S. phone calls without warrants (Declan McCullagh/CNET)

10:55 AM 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: Weasel Zippers, americanthinker.com, The PJ Tatler, Ed Driscoll, Balloon Juice, Guardian, Little Green Footballs, The Verge, The Huffington Post, National Review and Patterico's Pontifications

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

Video: Congressman Claims He Was Told Government Could Listen To Phone Calls Without A Warrant — Democratic New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler claims he was told in a closed-door briefing that the NSA could listen to a specific phone call, and get a call's “contents” without a warrant, based solely on an analyst's decision.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

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

Mark Hosenball / Reuters:

U.S. spy agency paper says fewer than 300 phone numbers closely scrutinized — (Reuters) - The U.S. government only searched for detailed information on calls involving fewer than 300 specific phone numbers among the millions of raw phone records collected by the National Security Agency in 2012 …

Discussion: emptywheel

New York Times:

For Snowden, a Life of Ambition, Despite the Drifting — WASHINGTON — In 2006, when Edward J. Snowden joined the thousands of computer virtuosos going to work for America's spy agencies, there were no recent examples of insiders going public as dissidents.

Discussion: Associated Press, ViralRead, Washington Monthly and Althouse

Erik Wasson / The Hill:

Palin slams military intervention in Syria: ‘Let Allah sort it out’ — Former GOP vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor Sarah Palin told a Washington audience Saturday that the U.S. should not get involved in the Syrian civil war. — Palin argued that the U.S. should not intervene …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Weasel Zippers, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, New York Times and The PJ Tatler

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

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Taylor Marsh and The Raw Story

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: Taegan Goddard's …, CNN and Outside the Beltway

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

Cindy Adams / New York Post:

Kraft: Putin stole Bowl ring — New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft revealed the real story behind a 2005 meeting with Vladimir Putin, during which the Russian president pocketed his Super Bowl ring, worth more than $25,000. Kraft, at the time, claimed the diamond-encrusted bauble was a gift …

Discussion: The Week, Israel Matzav, CBSSports.com, The Raw Story, The PJ Tatler, Weasel Zippers, Balloon Juice, americanthinker.com, Mediaite, Outside the Beltway and Business Insider

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

bigstory.ap.org:

SECRET TO PRISM PROGRAM: EVEN BIGGER DATA SEIZURE — You are here — Home » United States government » Secret to Prism program: Even bigger data seizure — WASHINGTON (AP) — In the months and early years after 9/11, FBI agents began showing up at Microsoft Corp. more frequently …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Boing Boing, Business Insider, emptywheel and Reuters

Washington Post:

Eric Holder has been an excellent attorney general — We were disappointed to read David Ignatius's June 9 op-ed column, “A mediocre attorney general,” purporting to represent the views of a number of unnamed Washington lawyers about Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.'s tenure.

Discussion: Right Wing News, The BLT, The Hill and The Hill