[NSA Spying]

Special Access Programs.

One of the Post's bloggers, William Arkin, has an illuminating post up about the "oversight process." It contains several key bits of data. First, he describes who "Congress" is when Bush says "Congress has been briefed more than twelve times."

"Congress" in this regard refers to a handful of lawmakers -- sometimes called the "big eight" by the intelligence community and the Pentagon. The big eight consist of either the chairs and ranking minority members of the armed services and defense appropriations committees (in the case of the Pentagon) or the chairs and minority ranking members of the two intelligence committees and the majority and minority leaders of both houses (in the case of intelligence).

That whole business about how Rockefeller couldn't tell even his staff? Here's why:

The big eight sign non-disclosure agreements for access to sensitive and "special" information. The big eight are ushered into special rooms to be briefed by executive branch officials. The big eight are restricted from discussing big eight briefings and deliberations with counsel and staff.

Arkin then explains what that "special" information is: "As best I can find out, the super-secrecy applies to categories 'above' Top Secret called 'special access programs,' known as SAPs." He goes on:

Most SAPs, and there are many hundreds, are acknowledged and unacknowledged, that is, they are routinely reported to Congress and included in the classified budgets presented to the Congress annually.

The most sensitive programs, the "waived" (or sometimes referred to as "carved out") programs are SAPs that are considered to be so sensitive that they are exempt from standard reporting requirements to the Congress. These are the programs that are only orally briefed to the big eight.

There is some bad news in all of this if you want accountability and/or hope to avoid being spied on (or worse):

Ask any intelligence or national security professional with real clearances why SAPs exist and what is the purpose of covert or clandestine operations and they will tell you that they exist as much to cover illegal and unpalatable activity as to "protect" intelligence sources and methods.

Arkin suspects that the Big Eight are as culpable in this as Bush is, which doesn't bode well for Congressional hearings. For the record, Dems who participated in a conspiracy to subvert the Constitution should be strung up next to Bush for doing so.