Spencer Ackerman reports in the Guardian:
The Obama administration has asked a secret surveillance court to ignore a federal court that found bulk surveillance illegal and to once again grant the National Security Agency the power to collect the phone records of millions of Americans for six months.
The legal request, filed nearly four hours after Barack Obama vowed to sign a new law banning precisely the bulk collection he asks the secret court to approve, also suggests that the administration may not necessarily comply with any potential court order demanding that the collection stop.
Ackerman details the timeline in a tweet:
June 2, 6:03pm: Obama says he'll sign law banning bulk collection.
June 2 9:50pm: DOJ asks secret court for 180 more days of bulk collection
— Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman) June 8, 2015
Marcy Wheeler notes with frustration:
DOJ, however, doesn’t much give a shit about what USA [Freedom Act] actually amends.
***
The government will pretend it doesn’t matter.
The bottom line is that the NSA is a rogue agency … engaged in clearly illegal conduct.
But the White House and Congress are both enabling the worst in mass surveillance.
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