January 05, 2006

Fired NSA Analyst Offers To Testify To Congress

From the Washington Times via The Drudge Report:

A former National Security Agency official wants to tell Congress about electronic intelligence programs that he asserts were carried out illegally by the NSA and the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Russ Tice, a whistleblower who was dismissed from the NSA last year, stated in letters to the House and Senate intelligence committees that he is prepared to testify about highly classified Special Access Programs, or SAPs, that were improperly carried out by both the NSA and the DIA.

Tice was fired in May, 2005. He reportedly suspected that a co-worker was a Chinese spy. When Tice reiterated his suspicions two years after the initial investigation, his security clearance was pulled following a psychiatric evaluation.

Tice reportedly sent letters to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees in mid-December.

Also posted at The Dread Pundit Bluto.

Posted by: Bluto at 12:22 AM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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1 No... no chip on the shoulder there.

Posted by: Russ at January 05, 2006 12:51 AM (utsLN)

2 There probably is... but the Chinese spy thing... that makes me not want to dismiss him so readily. But that's just me.

Posted by: Ariya at January 05, 2006 12:55 AM (uxW3N)

3 Hm, this is something I mentioned a while back, I think. I did some cursory looking into it, and couldn't find anything to suggest he was off his rocker. What I do know is there's a documented pattern of retaliation of this type against national security whistleblowers such as Tice, and under current law, they have virtually no recourse. Congress is set to hold hearings on the topic sometime this month. I'll have to look up exactly when...

Posted by: IO ERROR at January 05, 2006 02:42 AM (FVbj6)

4 Our plan is to pretend to like the Chinese while we make money off of them. Their plan is to pretend to like the U.S. while they make money off of us. I hope our plan works before their plan does.

Posted by: ShannonKW at January 05, 2006 04:05 AM (dT1MB)

5 I wouldn't be a bit surprised if we still had some questionable Chinese in sensitive positions, given the proclivity the Clinton Admin had for fraternizing with the Chinese throughout the entire second half of the 90's. Some were bound to fall through the cracks. And the CIA and NSA (and a few other acronyms) still have many devout Clintonites willing to protect his reputation by dismissing any accusations about Chinese spies. Hell, Janet Reno was busier than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs deflecting attention and stopping investigations into many Chinese nationals who were granted very sensitive positions. I won't speak to the legalities of the NSA wiretapping because I'm not well versed in that law, but this Chinese spy accusation wouldn't surprise me in the least. As a matter of fact, I think the deep sixing of Able Danger had something to do with the Chinese too even though all the attention is on its finding of al Qaeda cells. [/conspiracy theorizing]

Posted by: Oyster at January 05, 2006 05:55 AM (YudAC)

6 Pulling someone's security clearance is a career-ending move, and as stated it seems a bit overblown. I suppose that depends on what his exact behavior happened to be. (The Chinese spy is communicating with her handlers by virtue of a foil hat and an implanted HRF chip in her brain, etc.) Everything lies in the details. Besides, because of the nature of the work NSA is bound to include a number of "marginal personalities." That's the tradeoff you make. But there ought to be some sort of probationary situation where a person may lose their clearance until the circumstances are cleared up. Knowing what I know about how these bureaucracies operate it's fairly easy to believe that they might be unfair and oppressive, as well as ineffective. They're bound to be full of people with grievances.

Posted by: Demosophist at January 05, 2006 08:58 AM (trrfW)

7 Unless his "information" also includes why he believed a co-worker was a Chinese spy, then .. what? Interesting accusation (baggage) isn't it? Anyone here even been familiar with co-workers making accusations against fellow co-workers on any hosts of subjects? And you give credibility immediately becasue - why?

Posted by: hondo at January 05, 2006 10:18 AM (3aakz)

8 I've been there on this one - I've worked with a fellow employee who had a re-occuring habit of making accusations against fellow employees. Including "he's a Chinese spy - she's really a lesbian - he got promoted 'cause he's white - he's a muslim and you know about them - I could easily go on. I'll wait.

Posted by: hondo at January 05, 2006 10:26 AM (3aakz)

9 Ah shit! He might me right. Play the odds.

Posted by: greyrooster at January 06, 2006 09:42 PM (ZsYgO)

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