December 22, 2005
Former NSA Intelligence Analyst & Action Officer Urges to be Heard by Congress Regarding Unlawful Conduct by NSA
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
News from the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC):
[Emphasis by BuzzFlash]
Russ
Tice, former National Security Agency (NSA) intelligence analyst and
action officer, has sent the following two letters to the chairs
of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees. Mr. Tice intends to
report to Congress probable unlawful and unconstitutional acts conducted
while he was an intelligence officer with the National Security Agency
(NSA) and with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). These acts involved
the Director of the National Security Agency, the Deputies Chief of Staff
for Air and Space Operations, and the U.S. Secretary of Defense, and
were conducted via very highly sensitive intelligence programs and operations
known as Special Access Programs (SAP). SAP programs and operations are
more commonly referred to as “black world” programs and operations.
Mr. Tice was a technical intelligence specialist dealing almost exclusively
with SAP programs and operations at both NSA and DIA.
Mr. Tice stated: “As a Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) officer it
is continually drilled into us that the very first law chiseled in the
SIGINT equivalent of the Ten Commandments
(USSID-18) is that Thou shall not spy on American persons without a court
order from FISA. This law
is continually drilled into each NSA intelligence officer throughout
his or her career. The very people that lead the National Security Agency
have violated this holy edict of SIGINT." A pivotal question in
this case is whether Americans were being spied on via a vacuum cleaner
approach wherein vast amounts of information are sucked in. FISA warrants
require a name of the target and would not cover such a mass approach.
He also added: “In addition to knowing this fundamental commandment
of not violating the civil rights of Americans, intelligence officers
are required to take an oath to protect the United States Constitution
from enemies both foreign and domestic. It is with my oath as a US intelligence
officer weighing heavy on my mind that I wish to report to congress acts
that I believe are unlawful and unconstitutional. The freedom
of the American people cannot be protected when our constitutional liberties
are ignored and our nation has decayed into a police state.”
"These actions by the current administration are a compulsion to
secrecy, an expansive view of presidential authority, and reluctance to answer
to the people and Congress. Woodrow Wilson, himself no novice concerning
secrecy, claimed that it is a 'fair presumption that secrecy means impropriety'.
That is a presumption that we have been called upon to suspend in the
name of national security, but with recent disclosures that suspended
judgment appears to have been unwise. We urge the congress to hold hearings
and let patriotic witnesses like Russ Tice testify,” stated Sibel
Edmonds, the director of National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC).
Michael Ostrolenk, National Director of the Liberty Coalition agrees
with Mrs. Edmonds and stated further “I am glad to know that Mr.
Tice takes his oath to the Constitution seriously. He obviously knows
that his obligation is not to this or any Administration but to our Republican
form of government with its proper checks and balances and to protect
the rights it was instituted to secure.” He continued “This
is less about a particular Administration and more about the natural
tendency for government to become destructive to the very ends it was
created to fulfill. I hope that Congress takes it oversight responsibilities
seriously and investigates Mr. Tice’s allegations in an open and
non-partisan manner.”
Here is the letter by Mr. Tice, sent on Dec 18, 2005, to the Senate & House
Intelligence Committee:
* * *
Dear Chairman Roberts,
Under the provisions of the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection
Act (ICWPA), I intend to report to Congress probable unlawful and unconstitutional
acts conducted while I was an intelligence officer with the National
Security Agency (NSA) and with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).
These acts involve the Director of the National Security Agency, the
Deputies Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations, and the U.S. Secretary
of Defense.
These probable unlawful and unconstitutional acts were conducted via very highly sensitive intelligence programs and operations known as Special Access Programs (SAP)s. I was a technical intelligence specialist dealing almost exclusively with SAP programs and operations at both NSA and DIA.
Due to the highly sensitive nature of these programs and operations, I will require assurances from your committee that the staffers and/or congressional members to participate retain the proper security clearances, and also have the appropriate SAP cleared facilities available for these discussions.
Please inform me when you require my appearance on Capitol
Hill to conduct these discussions in relation to this ICWPA report.
Very Respectfully,
Russell D. Tice
Former Intelligence Officer, NSA
* * *
Tice, Russ; Former Intelligence Analyst & Action Officer,
Air Force, Naval Intelligence, DIA and NSA
Russ Tice worked technical intelligence issues as an all-source
analyst, systems instructor, special programs expert, technical missions
operations
action officer, tasking agent, field intelligence on-site analyst and
liaison, and advanced capabilities officer. Known as a stickler for technical
detailed analysis and “by the book” on security regs. After
returning from a temporary overseas assignment in 2001, he observed that
a DIA coworker exhibited the classic signs of involvement in espionage.
After quietly reporting this, his suspicion was quickly dismissed by
DIA’s counterintelligence (CI) office. He continued to observe activity
to suggest there was a problem and reported such. He returned to the
National Security Agency and, busy with the Iraqi War, dropped the issue.
When noting a report that FBI CI agents availed secrets to a China source
for sex, he questioned the FBI’s competence. NSA retaliated by having
him declared crazy, revoking his security clearance, and terminating
his employment in May 2005.
About National Security Whistleblowers Coalition
National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC), founded in August
2004, is an independent and nonpartisan alliance of whistleblowers who
have come forward to address our nation’s security weaknesses; to
inform authorities of security vulnerabilities in our intelligence agencies,
at nuclear power plants and weapon facilities, in airports, and at our
nation’s borders and ports; to uncover government waste, fraud,
abuse, and in some cases criminal conduct. The NSWBC is dedicated to
aiding national security whistleblowers through a variety of methods,
including advocacy of governmental and legal reform, educating the public
concerning whistleblowing activity, provision of comfort and fellowship
to national security whistleblowers suffering retaliation and other harms,
and working with other public interest organizations to affect goals
defined in the NSWBC mission statement. For more on NSWBC visit www.nswbc.org
About Liberty Coalition
The Liberty Coalition works to help organize, support, and coordinate
transpartisan public policy activities related to civil liberties and
basic human rights. We work in conjunction with groups of partner organizations
that are interested in preserving the Bill of Rights, personal autonomy
and individual privacy.
The Liberty Coalition is concerned about the threat to Americans' fundamental
and inalienable rights. The Coalition is dedicated to upholding and protecting
our basic rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In order
to accomplish our task, we seek to protect those freedoms as articulated
in the Bill of Rights. We base our concerns on the fundamental values
and principles of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution,
particularly the separation of powers and federalism, and Bill of Rights.
These are also embodied in the 14th amendment, especially the due process
and privileges and immunities clauses.
www.libertycoalition.net
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT