Report: Document shows
surveillance of US
law firm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The National
Security Agency was involved in the surveillance of an American law
firm while it represented a foreign government in trade disputes with the United States,
The New York Times reported in a story
based on a top-secret document obtained by former NSA systems analyst Edward Snowden.
U.S. law firm ensnared in NSA surveillance:
NYT report Reuters
Top Asian News at 12:30 a.m. GMT
Associated Press
Clapper calls on Snowden to return NSA
documents Associated Press
Report: Spies use smartphone apps to track
people Associated Press
US spy chief calls on Snowden to return
NSA documents AFP
The February 2013 document shows that the
Indonesian government had retained the law firm for help in trade talks, the
Times reported in a story posted on its website Saturday. The law firm was not
identified in the document, but the Chicago-based firm
Mayer Brown was advising the Indonesian
government on trade issues at the time, according to the newspaper.
The document itself is a monthly bulletin
from an NSA liaison office in Canberra, the
capital of Australia.
The NSA's Australian counterpart, the Australian Signals Directorate, had
notified the NSA that it was conducting surveillance of the talks, including
communications between Indonesian officials and the American law firm, and
offered to share the information, the Times reported.
Liaison officials asked the NSA general
counsel's office, on behalf of the Australians, for guidance about the spying.
The bulletin notes only that the counsel's office "provided clear
guidance" and that the Australian eavesdropping agency "has been able
to continue to cover the talks, providing highly useful intelligence for
interested U.S.
customers," according to the Times story.
The NSA and the Australian government
declined to answer questions about the surveillance, the Times reported. In
statements to the newspaper and The Associated Press, the NSA said it
"does not ask its foreign partners to undertake any intelligence activity
that the U.S.
government would be legally prohibited from undertaking itself."
Officials have said Snowden took 1.7
million documents with him when he fled the U.S. last year and has shared some
of them with journalists. He has been granted temporary asylum in Russia and has been charged with theft and
espionage in the U.S.
Duane Layton, a Mayer Brown lawyer
involved in the trade talks, told the Times that he did not have any evidence
that he or his firm had been under scrutiny by Australian or U.S.
intelligence agencies.
"I always wonder if someone is
listening, because you would have to be an idiot not to wonder in this day and
age," he said in an interview with the newspaper. "But I've never
really thought I was being spied on."
The NSA is prohibited from targeting
Americans, including businesses, law firms and other organizations based in the
United States,
for surveillance without warrants, the Times reported. Intelligence officials
have repeatedly said the NSA does not use the spy services of its partners in
an alliance of intelligence operations — Australia,
Britain, Canada and New Zealand — to skirt the law.
The Times reported that the NSA can
intercept the communications of Americans if they are in contact with a foreign
intelligence target abroad, such as Indonesian officials. The U.S. agency is then
required to follow so-called minimization rules to protect their privacy, such
as deleting the identity of Americans or information that is not deemed
necessary to understand or assess the foreign intelligence, before sharing it
with other agencies, the paper reported.
Most attorney-client conversations do not
get special protections under American law from NSA eavesdropping, according to
the newspaper.
National Security Agency (NSA)
Rajesh De
is the general counsel for the National Security Agency
(NSA), and was a partner at Mayer Brown.
Note: William M.
Daley
Professional career
Daley returned to the practice of law, as
a partner with the firm Mayer Brown (then Mayer, Brown & Platt) from 1993
to 1997.
William
M. Daley was a partner at Mayer Brown,
the chief of staff for the Barack Obama
administration, a director at the Boeing
Company, is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and Mayor Richard M. Daley’s brother.
John R.
Schmidt is a partner at Mayer Brown,
and was Richard M. Daley’s chief of staff.
Richard
M. Daley is William M. Daley’s brother, a
member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, his chief
of staff was John R. Schmidt, was the Chicago (IL) mayor, Michelle Obama
was his staffer, and Valerie B. Jarrett
was his deputy chief of staff.
Oak Park Made Deal with Devil to Deny
Civil Liberties…Will the Devil Pay?
Chicago shields OP from NRA legal costs
The village board unanimously adopted a
resolution Monday, accepting the City of Chicago’s offer to protect Oak
Park from legal costs created by the National Rifle
Association.
The NRA is suing, attempting to overturn
village’s 24-year ban on handguns. Chicago and Oak Park are teaming up
to fight the lawsuit. In the event the NRA wins, the city is offering to
indemnify the village against having to reimburse the gun group’s legal
expenses.
A U.S. District Court judge dismissed the
NRA’s lawsuit against Chicago and Oak Park, Dec. 18.
However, the gun group immediately appealed the ruling, hoping to prevail in a
higher court.
The law firm of Mayer Brown is representing Oak Park,
pro bono, in the case.
R. Eden
Martin is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle
Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack Obama
was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP, and his maternal
grandmother was Madelyn Payne Dunham.
Madelyn
Payne Dunham was Barack Obama’s maternal
grandmother, and an aircraft inspector for the Boeing
Company.
Newton N.
Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP,
and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
W.
James McNerney Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and the chairman & president & CEO for the Boeing Company.
Boeing
Company is a contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA).
Barbara
G. Fast was a VP at the Boeing Company,
a VP for the CGI Group Inc., and is a friend of
Keith B. Alexander.
CGI
Group Inc. was the Obamacare
contractor that developed Healthcare.gov web site.
Obamacare
is Barack Obama’s signature policy
initiative.
Donna S.
Morea was the EVP for the CGI Group Inc.,
and a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Committee
for Economic Development, and the Brookings
Institution (think tank).
George Soros
was the chairman for the Foundation to
Promote Open Society.
George
A. Ranney Jr. was a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development,
is a senior counsel at Mayer Brown,
and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Debora
de Hoyos is a partner at Mayer Brown,
and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Tyrone
C. Fahner is a partner at Mayer Brown,
and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Robert
S. Osborne is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and the EVP & general counsel for Booz Allen Hamilton.
Booz
Allen Hamilton is a contractor for the National Security Agency
(NSA).
Edward
Snowden was an employee at Booz Allen Hamilton,
and leaked information about the National Security Agency
(NSA).
Keith
B. Alexander is a director at the National Security Agency
(NSA), and a friend of Barbara G. Fast.
Barbara
G. Fast is a friend of Keith B. Alexander,
was the VP for the CGI Group Inc.,
and the VP for the Boeing Company.
Boeing
Company is a contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA).
Akin,
Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP is the lobby firm for the Boeing Company.
Scott
Parven is a partner at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer
& Feld, LLP, and was the chairman, public policy for Mayer Brown.
Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is a
senior counsel for Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer
& Feld, LLP, Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, an honorary
trustee at the Brookings Institution (think
tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think
tank).
Valerie
B. Jarrett is Vernon E. Jordan Jr’s great niece, the senior adviser for the Barack Obama administration, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Cyrus
F. Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution
(think tank).
Robert A.
Helman is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
a partner at Mayer Brown, and was an honorary
trustee at the Brookings Institution (think
tank).
Teresa
Heinz Kerry is an honorary trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank),
and married to the U.S. Department of State
secretary John F. Kerry.
Richard C.
Blum is an honorary trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank),
and married to Senator Dianne Feinstein.
Dianne
Feinstein is married to Richard C. Blum,
a U.S. Senate senator, and a member of
the Alfalfa Club.
John F.W.
Rogers is a member of the Alfalfa Club,
and married to Deborah M. Lehr.
Deborah
M. Lehr is married to John F.W. Rogers,
and was a partner at Mayer Brown.
Richard
Ben-Veniste is a partner at Mayer Brown, and
was the commissioner for the National Commission on
Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.
Lee H.
Hamilton was the vice chair for the National Commission on
Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, is a co-chair for the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future,
and an honorary trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank).
Steven
L. Rattner was a trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank),
and an economic correspondent for the New York
Times.
Crystal
Nix Hines was a reporter for the New York Times,
Barack Obama’s law school friend, and
is of counsel at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges,
LLP.
Faith
Elizabeth Gay is a partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart
Oliver & Hedges, LLP, and was an attorney at Sidley Austin LLP.
R. Eden
Martin is counsel at Sidley Austin LLP,
and the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Newton N.
Minow is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle
Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack Obama
was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP, and his maternal
grandmother was Madelyn Payne Dunham.
Madelyn
Payne Dunham was Barack Obama’s maternal
grandmother, and an aircraft inspector for the Boeing
Company.
Boeing
Company is a contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA).
Rajesh De
is the general counsel for the National Security Agency
(NSA), and was a partner at Mayer Brown.
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