How the Government May Be Getting a Big Boost From Edward Snowden's Revelations

I have been suspicious of Edward Snowden's "leaks" from the start.

On June 7, 2013 , in a post titled, Are the Data Collection Leaks Just a Set Up by the Government?, I wrote:

[I[t appears we have something of a limited hangout here by USG [regarding the Snowden leaks]. The purpose is unkown, though I suspect what may be going on is that the USG may be wanting to use in court cases some of the data they are collecting. BUT in order to do this, they have to acknowledge they have the data in the first place, which may be what the leak to Greenwald is all about (and the leaks to WaPo about USG tracking internet data).

Now that the public is aware this data is collected, Congress will hold hearings, not mind you, resulting in the end of the practice, but to ultimately set "guidelines" on when it can be used.

Let's see how this all plays out, but now that this data collection is being made public, to me the real danger is that the government is now going to be able to openly use it against its subjects--which may have been the purpose of the leaks in the first place.

In a recent interview with Firedoglake, NSA whistleblower William Binney explained the problem the government has if the public isn't aware of their snooping:

The FBI, Drug Enforcement Agency, and law enforcement, along with the NSA, are collecting information on Americans and then using that information to arrest people. “Parallel construction” is then used to “fabricate evidence” that is substituted with evidence that is subsequently collected legally and through mechanisms that have traditionally been an accepted part of criminal investigations.

In former senior NSA employee and whistleblower William Binney’s view, this is the “real problem.” It is occurring without a warrant and they can bring this information into court. He calls it the “planned program perjury policy right out of the Department of Justice.”

“They’re lying to the courts,” Binney explains. The government knows that they are lying when they say here is the evidence used to arrest these people.

In other words, at present the government can't reveal they are catching targets via NSA data collection. They have to cook up false information as to how they are catching people. The Snowden revelations may change this.

In a 54-page decision released Friday, a federal judge in New York ruled  the NSA data collection is legal .

 Throwing out a challenge from the ACLU, Judge William Pauley said the NSA’s practice of collecting millions of Americans’ phone records is constitutional, saying the program “…significantly increases the NSA’s capability to detect the faintest patterns left behind by individuals affiliated with foreign  terrorist organizations.”

There is no doubt the ACLU will appeal this decision to the Supreme Court. But if the Supremes come out in favor of the data collection, then the true result of the Snowden leaks will be more surveillance and surveillance data being used openly in courts against defendants. Very scary.

It should be remembered that the revelations that have been made by Snowden should not have come as a shock to the careful observer of the news. Everything Snowden revealed was understood to be going on  by those who pay attention. He revealed nothing new, other than a few specifics of what was already known in a general sense. Snowden's leaks were, however, picked up, for whatever reason, by mainstream media. Former CIA employee Anderson Cooper ran with the story at CNN for days.

Now the result is this federal court ruling. It will now go to the same Supreme Court that ruled Obamcare is constitutional. Heaven help us.

When Snowden recently said his work is done, he may have really meant it. If his true goal was to open up a major opportunity for the government to use its surveillance techniques directly and openly against us.