Self-Righteous Spies

For John, BLUF:  Ten examples of the Intelligence Community bending (breaking) the laws of the land.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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10 times the intel community violated the trust of US citizens, lawmakers and allies

This is from The Hill and is by Ms Sharyl Attkisson, 26 December 2017.

Note that The Hill states that "The views expressed by Contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill".  Thus we have a little distance from Ms Attkisson and her charges.  Here is the lede plus four:

No matter where you stand politically, a growing body of facts raises the question:  Is there systemic corruption or misfeasance at work inside America’s intelligence agencies?

By that, I don’t mean people stealing money.  I mean officials who are stealing our privacy — using the tools of intelligence-gathering and law-enforcing, which are meant to protect Americans, to instead spy on them, to gather information that isn’t the government’s business (at least not without a court’s approval).  And, in some instances, it appears, to punish or silence those with whom they disagree — personal and political foes, in and out of government — rather than to pursue and protect Americans from the country’s real enemies.

Perhaps more alarming is the growing evidence that suggests some officials at all levels in intelligence and justice agencies are operating in a way that is clearly intended to serve their own political beliefs and interests — not the public’s interests.

And sometimes, it appears, they operate not just in direct defiance of their superiors but of the Congress, the courts and the very laws of the land as well.

(Almost as disturbing, Congress, for its part, seems all too willing to allow all of this to take place, when it becomes known, rather than using its authority to stop the misfeasance, punish the miscreants who lie or stonewall, and protect their constituents.)

This is not good.  Citizens need to have faith in their courts, their police and their intelligence agencies.  I guess they should also have faith in their Congress, but that may be asking a lot.

And Bad People need to have rights also, just in case the Government makes a mistake and thinks you are the bad guy and in fact your are totally innocent.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff