The Scandal of Lying about "Thwarted" "Plots" Started 4 Years Ago

"For example, we have heard over and over again the assertion that 54 terrorist plots were thwarted by the use of Section 215 and/or Section 702 authorities. That's plainly wrong, but we still get it in letters to members of Congress; we get it in statements. These weren't all plots, and they weren't all thwarted. The American people are getting left with an inaccurate impression of the effectiveness of NSA programs."

"But they're missing this real scandal about the government's lies about the central importance of Section 215. That scandal started 4 years ago, when an example the FBI now admits had limited import played a critical role in the reauthorization of Section 215 without limits on the dragnet authority. First, note that even while Leahy got Alexander to back off his "54 plots" claim, the General still tried to insist Section 215 had been critical in two plots, not just one."

An admission reduced the number of U.S. terrorist plots attributed to the Section 215 dragnet from 54 to one or two. Many of the originally cited 54 cases were not plots and only 13 had a U.S. nexus. A previously highlighted FBI example now acknowledged as having limited import played a key role in reauthorizing Section 215 without limits on bulk collection. Claims about the centrality and effectiveness of the dragnet have been overstated, creating an inaccurate public impression of NSA program effectiveness and the necessity of broad Section 215 authority.

Read at Emptywheel