memeorandum: June 14: Lindsey Graham, Saxby Chambliss, Mark Udall, Bobby Scott, David Ignatius, James Risen, Andrea Mitchell (NBC News)

5:35 PM ET, June 16, 2013

Top Items:

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: emptywheel, Lawfare, The Verge, The Volokh Conspiracy and Balloon Juice

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: CNN, Politico and Scared Monkeys

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: CNN, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Hinterland Gazette

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

Ben Geman / The Hill: McDonough: Obama will speak about NSA

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

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

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

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

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

Discussion: Little Green Footballs and emptywheel

Michael A. Walsh / New York Post: The ‘scandalanche’ & the data-mining

Ramzy Mardini / New York Times:

Bad Idea, Mr. President — AMMAN, Jordan — ACCORDING to Bill Clinton, Barack Obama risks looking like a “fool” if he decides not to intervene militarily in Syria's continuing civil war. Likening the situation to his decision to intervene in Kosovo in 1999, Mr. Clinton said Tuesday …

Discussion: Jerusalem Post, Washington Monthly and The Huffington Post

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

Robert Fisk / The Independent:
Iran will send 4,000 troops to aid Bashar al-Assad's forces in Syria

Discussion: BBC and Israel Matzav

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

Discussion: The Hill and Politico

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

Ramsey Cox / The Hill:
Six amendments to watch in Senate immigration reform fight

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

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: Ballot Box, CNN and Outside the Beltway

Chris Johnson / Washington Blade:
Gabriel Gomez endorses ENDA

Discussion: Blue Mass Group and Towleroad News #gay

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

Jennifer Bendery / The Huffington Post:
Dick Cheney: Edward Snowden Is A ‘Traitor’ And Possibly A Chinese Spy

Discussion: Crooks and Liars

Guardian:

GCHQ intercepted foreign politicians' communications at G20 summits — Exclusive: phones were monitored and fake internet cafes set up to gather information from allies in London in 2009 — Foreign politicians and officials who took part in two G20 summit meetings in London in 2009 …

Discussion: RT, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers, Business Insider and Washington Monthly

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

Pam Spaulding / Firedoglake:

Goodbye Pam's House Blend: After Nine Years, Closing the Coffeehouse July 1 — It's as good as any time to share this; the blog started without any fanfare back in 2004, so why not drop the news when people should be out (hopefully) enjoying life offline, and fellow bloggers are heading off to Netroots Nation.

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay

NBC News:

June 14: Lindsey Graham, Saxby Chambliss, Mark Udall, Bobby Scott, David Ignatius, James Risen, Andrea Mitchell — Below: — DAVID GREGORY: — This Sunday, are we ramping up for war in Syria? How far will President Obama go to stop the bloodshed? A red-line cost by the Assad regime.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Pressthink and Hullabaloo