Susan Collins on NSA Prism briefings: very compartmentalized information access

WASHINGTON--Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said on Monday from Capitol Hill as the Republican's high rank in the Committee of national security in the last year, hoped that they would have been informed about the prism of national security agency surveillance program, but it was not. As a member of the Committee of intelligence of the session, he said, she had not been informed until the panoramic spying by the NSA program was revealed by The Guardian last week.

Collins said the argument of the administration of Obama that she could have requested that a briefing is short, because she had no knowledge on which to base an application. "How can you request when you do not know that the program exists?" Collins asked, answer me in absurdity.

Collins said that she get it, leaders of the Senate and members of the top Intelligence Committee gave briefings. "Not for the rest of us. At the time, he was member of the classification of the Homeland Security Committee, I therefore believe that it would have had more information about had, along with Joe Lieberman, a monthly report of the threat. "" But I don't have access to this information very compartmentalized, said. """If you are talking about is widespread knowledge [of the Prism in Congress], there was not."

HuffPost's Sam Stein reported earlier that "Obama administration officials held 22 separate sessions or meetings of members of Congress about the law that has been used to justify the controversial national security agency email, monitoring,". According to data provided by a senior administration officer

According to the official, the sessions that took place over 14 months from October 2011 in section 702 of the law on amendments of the law on surveillance of foreign intelligence (FISA), which authorizes the Attorney general and the director of national intelligence to gather intelligence about citizens not up to a year. Section 702 has been cited by the Director of national intelligence, James Clapper as the legal basis for program of Prism of the NSA, which has allowed the Government to keep track of e-mail data communication.

The Guardian and The Washington Post revealed the existence of the PRISM program and other data tracking action last week. In defense of Prism, Clapper said citizens Americans have not been the target of RAID data. He and others also stressed that Congress has had ample opportunity to review the program and provide feedback.

To reinforce that the senior administration official - discussing the matter only on condition of anonymity - say, sent through the following list of meetings and sessions informative they were conducted.

19/10/11: Meeting with the staff of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee
10/01/12: Judicial personnel Committee house briefings (majority and minority reported separately)
11/01/12: Personal judicial Senate Committee briefings (majority and minority reported separately)
05/03/12: Meeting with Nancy Pelosi
08/03/12: Meeting with Harry Reid staff
15/03/12: Report of the law for the staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee
15/03/12: Information for the leadership of the Senate staff
21/03/12: Meeting with the staff of Mitch McConnell
23/03/12: Senate Judiciary Committee of the personal information on NSA
27/03/12: Meeting with Jim Langevin
28/03/12: Meeting with Jan Schakowsky
29/03/12: Thompson meeting *
29/03/12: Sens. Ron Wyden and Mark Udall meeting
10/04/12: Senate Judiciary Committee of the personal information (in Virginia)
20/04/12: Senate Judiciary Committee of the personal information to the FBI
04/05/12: Senate Judiciary Committee of the personal Briefing
31/05/12: House Judiciary Committee FAA hearing (Unrated)
07/06/12: Member of the Committee on judiciary House Briefing (classified)
11/06/12: Meeting with staff of Patrick Leahy
21/06/12: Standing Committee House to learn intelligence (classified)
18/07/12: Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse/Richard Blumenthal meeting
10/12/12: Akaka meeting

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