Nations spying on each other’s leaders is a two-way
street and a long-time practice in the intelligence world, according to
the U.S. intelligence chief. But a surveillance sweep on phone records
overseas that has prompted an anti-American backlash was carried out by
European governments, not the U.S., another intelligence official said.
National
Intelligence Director James Clapper spoke to lawmakers in a Congress
divided over how to revise National Security Agency surveillance
programs that have fuelled bitter criticism at home and abroad. Though
most of the programs were enacted as a result of the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks, U.S. officials are nearly unanimous in saying they’re
ready for a review to see if the scope of spying remains necessary.
At
a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Tuesday, Mr. Clapper defended
the secret surveillance that sweeps up phone records and emails of
millions of Americans as vital to protecting against terrorists. He
played down European allies’ complaints about spying on their leaders,
saying they do it, too.
“That’s a hardy perennial,” Mr. Clapper told lawmakers.
Mr.
Clapper said that during his 50 years working in intelligence it was “a
basic tenet” to collect, whether by spying on communications or through
other sources, confidential information about foreign leaders that
reveals “if what they’re saying gels with what’s actually going on.”
The
committee chairman, Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, asked whether U.S.
allies had conducted the same type of espionage against American
leaders. “Absolutely,” Mr. Clapper responded.
Asked
about collection of phone records in France, Spain and elsewhere, the
NSA’s director, Gen. Keith Alexander, testified that the U.S. did not
collect European records, as was reported over the past week to anger
across Europe.
Alexander said the U.S. was given data
by NATO partners as part of a program to protect military interests. He
disputed that the program targeted European citizens, but he did not
offer specifics. He called the reports “completely false.”
As
for efforts at home, the intelligence leaders defended sweeping up
records of U.S. phone calls as necessary to combat terrorism. The Obama
administration vigorously opposes efforts to curtail the internal spying
programs that have angered some Americans.
Mr.
Rogers urged lawmakers not to scrap an important investigative tool. “We
can’t ask the FBI to find terrorists plotting an attack and then not
provide them with the information they need,” he said.
Others
on the panel predicted that the programs will be overhauled. “There
will be changes,” said Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky. Of Mr. Clapper’s
support for the intelligence programs, she said- “What I heard from you
was a robust defence effectively of the status quo.”
The
nation’s post-Sept. 11 surveillance programs, revealed by classified
documents provided by former NSA analyst Edward Snowden, are under
unprecedented scrutiny and have been capped by recent revelations that
the NSA monitored German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone and those
of up to 34 other world leaders.
A bipartisan plan
introduced Tuesday would end the NSA’s sweep of phone records, allowing
the government to seek only records related to ongoing terror
investigations.
Asked about the reports of
eavesdropping on world leaders, President Barack Obama himself said in a
Fusion network television interview that the U.S. government is
conducting “a complete review of how our intelligence operates outside
the country.” He declined to discuss specifics or say when he learned
about the spying on allies.
Another U.S. official
said Mr. Obama did not know the NSA was monitoring Merkel’s
communications until after his visit to Germany in June. That official
said information about the surveillance of foreign leaders emerged in
the course of the White House’s broader review of spying programs,
triggered by media reports based on documents leaked by Mr. Snowden. The
official was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and insisted
on anonymity.
The White House says the United States
isn’t currently listening to Ms. Merkel’s conversations and won’t do so
in the future. Mr. Carney wouldn’t say whether the U.S. is monitoring
the calls of other friendly leaders or whether Mr. Obama thinks that
sort of surveillance of allies should go on.
In rare
agreement, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican
House Speaker John Boehner both said on Tuesday that it was time for a
thorough review of NSA programs. Both have been strong supporters of the
surveillance.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of
the Senate Intelligence Committee, called for a “total review of all
intelligence programs” following the Ms. Merkel allegations.
Several long-time U.S. allies have joined Germany in expressing their displeasure about spying on their leaders.
