Last month, Glenn Greenwald alerted the governments of Brazil and Mexico to evidence that the National Security Agency (NSA) spy program targeted the communications of the states’ leaders.
However, yesterday, The Washington Post reported that top intelligence officials are saying President Obama had no knowledge of the surveillance programs against allied world leaders until this summer.
The Post further quoted Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) as saying:
With respect to NSA collection of intelligence on leaders of U.S. allies—including France, Spain, Mexico and Germany—let me state unequivocally: I am totally opposed. . . . Unless the United States is engaged in hostilities against a country or there is an emergency need for this type of surveillance, I do not believe the United States should be collecting phone calls or emails of friendly presidents and prime ministers. The president should be required to approve any collection of this sort.
While some of the NSA’s programs and activities had been revealed by the Snowden leaks, the “head of state collection” program was only later revealed to Obama during a briefing at the White House, according to The Post.
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