NSA 'Bombshell': Agency Spied on Prominent American Citizens

[Judi Lynn]

Published on Wednesday, July 9, 2014 by Common Dreams

NSA 'Bombshell': Agency Spied on Prominent American Citizens

Government covertly monitored email accounts of five high-profile Muslim-Americans—including a political candidate and several civil rights activists, academics, and lawyers

- Jon Queally, staff writer

According to new reporting published by The Intercept at midnight on Tuesday, the National Security Agency has used its massive surveillance apparatus to directly target and spy on American citizens who have absolutely no ties to criminal or terrorist activities.

In what was anticipated as a 'bombshell' revelation concerning some of the targets of NSA surveillance, journalist Glenn Greenwald and Murtaza Hussain show how the NSA and FBI "have covertly monitored the emails of prominent Muslim-Americans—including a political candidate and several civil rights activists, academics, and lawyers—under secretive procedures intended to target terrorists and foreign spies."

The reporting follows a three-month investigation by The Intercept that began with information contained in internal NSA documents leaked by Edward Snowden last year and introduces five American citizens — all of whom are Muslim and of Middle Eastern or Asian descent — who were listed as targets of the government for ongoing and prolonged surveillance. As reported by The Intercept, they are:

• Faisal Gill, a longtime Republican Party operative and one-time candidate for public office who held a top-secret security clearance and served in the Department of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush;

• Asim Ghafoor, a prominent attorney who has represented clients in terrorism-related cases;

• Hooshang Amirahmadi, an Iranian-American professor of international relations at Rutgers University;

• Agha Saeed, a former political science professor at California State University who champions Muslim civil liberties and Palestinian rights;

• Nihad Awad, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim civil rights organization in the country.

More:
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2014/07/09

[Sancho]

1. Regardless of the distraction of attacking Snowden, this is exactly what Americans should fear.

The NSA is out of control, just like the FBI was under J.E. Hoover.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. I just assume NSA and minions spy on everyone

and act accordingly.
Obviously our Congress and our President are ok with the spying, and courts seem to be ok with it.
One nation, under NSA.....

the Constitution was nice, while it lasted.