In response to questions from lawmakers about possible surveillance of Americans, McConnell and Wainstein both stated flatly that the Protect America Act doesn’t remove robust “minimization” procedures for handling information collected on U.S. persons in the course of a foreign intelligence information. For instance, names of U.S. persons — citizens and non-citizens — collected in the course of a foreign-foreign warrantless surveillance investigation have to be blacked out and removed from reports based on that collected intelligence.
Under questioning from Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), however, Wainstein conceded that there are certain situations under which intelligence analysts might disseminate information on U.S. individuals throughout the government — if it’s necessary for the official reviewing the information “to understand the foreign intelligence value” of the intercept, for instance.
Wainstein suggested that’s something of a trivial and minor circumstance, but who knows? Cohen referenced a 2006 Newsweek story that said the NSA has improperly turned over10,000 names of U.S. persons acquired through surveillance to other agencies.
McConnell seemed to be a bit irate at the question, scowling that the “issue is protecting the country,” and not “incidental” concerns about what happens to U.S. person information collected in the course of a foreign intelligence investigation. However, this was the first time that McConnell and Wainsten elaborated, even a bit, about what minimization procedures exist under the Protect America Act.
