TIA and TSP Timing
by emptywheel
July 30, 2007
Commenter joejoejoe sent me a superb timeline to show the chronology of
Congress' building opposition to the Total Information Awareness program as it
relates to the NSA's domestic wiretap program (how cool is that? I, the
chronology weenie, am getting timelines out of the blue! Better than
Christmas!!), which appears at the bottom of this post.
I'd like to pull out just a few salient dates and add four (in bold italics) to
what joejoejoe did. I think the time line lends support for the argument that
one of the problems--a big problem--with the domestic wiretap program is that
it violated clear instructions from Congress.
2/20/03 - President Bush signed reconciled House Senate version of above law
with provision that terminates funding to TIA in 90 days and requires a
Congressional update.(Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, 2003, No.108?7,
Division M, §111(b) [signed Feb. 20, 2003])
5/20/03 - 90 days later, Pentagon changes name of TIA from Total Information
Awareness to Terrorist Information Awareness and calls it new program. Problem
solved!
7/17/03 - Briefing for Intelligence Committee leadership (Pat Roberts, Jay
Rockefeller, Porter Goss, and Jane Harman) on domestic wiretap program. This
would be the last briefing before the crisis March 10 meeting.
7/17/03 - After his SECOND briefing on the program, Jay Rockefeller writes
his CYA memo to Cheney, which states (thanks to Ann for the reminder on the
date):
I am writing to reiterate my concerns regarding the sensitive intelligence
issues we discussed today with the DCI, DIRNSA,Chairman Roberts and our House
Intelligence counterparts.
[snip]
As I reflected on the meeting today, and the future we face, John
Poindexter's TIA project sprung to mind, exacerbating my concern regarding the
direction the Administration is moving with regard to security, technology, and
surveillance.
[snip]
I am retaining a copy of this letter in a sealed envelope in the secure
spaces of the Senate Intelligence Committee to ensure that I have a record of
this communication.
7/18/03 - Senate votes unanimously to block funding for the Total Information
Awareness program. According to the Defense Department appropriations, no
funding "may be obligated or expended on research and development on the
Terrorism Information Awareness program." - - over Bush admin. objections.
Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2004, Pub. L. No. 108?87, § 8131, 117
Stat. 1054, 1102 (2003)
9/26/03 - Congress eliminates funding for TIA save some military and foreign
surveillance exceptions - see Sec. 8131 (see signing statement below)
9/30-10/1/03 - Bush signs '04 Defense budget with signing statement,
1/04 - Given the pattern established in the prior three years twenty-seven
months, there should have been a briefing of Congress in January 2004, but it
did not occur.
2/11/04 - Senate Intelligence Committe hearing: "one of TIA's strongest
critics questioned whether intelligence officials knew that some of its
programs had been moved to other agencies. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asked
Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte and FBI Director Robert
Mueller whether it was "correct that when [TIA] was closed, that several ...
projects were moved to various intelligence agencies.... I and others on this
panel led the effort to close [TIA]; we want to know if Mr. Poindexter's
programs are going on somewhere else."
Negroponte and Mueller said they didn't know. But Negroponte's deputy, Gen.
Michael V. Hayden, who until recently was director of the NSA, said, "I'd like
to answer in closed session." Asked for comment, Wyden's spokeswoman referred
to his hearing statements." (via the National Journal, 2/23/04)
3/04/04 (est.) - Comey and Ashcroft agree, " We had concerns as to our
ability to certify its legality, which was our obligation for the program to be
renewed." Ashrcroft taken ill. (see Marty Lederman on Comey's testimony at
Balkanization)
3/10/04 - Congressional briefing on domestic wiretap program
3/10/04 - Gonzales hospital visit.
2/3/05 - First briefing of Intelligence Committee leadership after the
hospital confrontation, eleven months earlier
In other words, the Administration briefed Congress on the domestic wiretap
program the day before the Senate made it explicit that they would not permit
any data-mining of American citizens. That July 2003 briefing occurred in the
normal pattern established in the previous two years, so it may be a
coincidence. Or it may be that the Administration briefed Congress when they
did before they would have a legal obligation to inform them they were breaking
the law prohibiting data-mining of Americans.
But that was also the briefing after which Rockefeller wrote his memo to Cheney
expressing concerns about the program. I had always understood that Rockefeller
sent that memo after his first briefing on the program. But that's not
right--he was briefed on January 29, 2003, but presumably sent no memo after
that meeting. In other words, something about the July 17 briefing raised new
concerns for him, and one of those concerns was the program's apparent
similarity to the TIA program, which the Senate was just about to vote to
explicitly prohibit funding.
Then, as I've pointed out before, the Administration skipped the briefing they
should have held in January 2004, the first briefing after the law went into
effect. They don't hold a briefing until March 10, when they've hit a crisis.
Significantly, this is the first (of two, the second being in January 2006,
after the NYT has exposed the program) briefing that includes Congressional
leadership, in addition to the Intelligence Committee leadership; plus, there's
the Tom DeLay briefing the next day, on March 11. We know they asked whether
it'd be possible to pass legislation to make the program legal, so it's likely
they finally included Congressional leadership in the briefings because they
wanted legislation passed. Were they trying to legislate a work-around of the
Appropriations Act? That might explain why the Gang of 8 told them it wouldn't
happen, there was no way Congress would permit the program legislatively.
And of course, they don't brief Congress (though they do brief Pete Hoekstra,
when he becomes Chair of HPSCI) again until February 2005. Eleven long months
when they didn't tell Congress they (may have) been breaking the law.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
joejoejoe's timeline:
Timeline below...(most sources from the EPIC TIA page)
11/9/02 - NYT reports on Total Information Awareness data-mining program
funded through DARPA
11/22/02 - Sen. Grassley says of TIA, "I am at a loss to understand why DoD
resources are being spent on research for domestic law enforcement."
1/13/03 - Sens. Leahy, Cantwell, and Feingold send a 7 page letter to AG
Ashcroft asking for a full account of "the extent to which the Justice
Department is relying on data-mining" in light of the TIA disclosures
1/21/03 - The DoD discloses it is sharing TIA information with the FBI in a
response to a letter from Sen. Grassley, DoD "advised of contacts with the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force,
Department of Justice, and components of the Department of Homeland Security,
DARPA officials note it is their understanding that the FBI is working on an
MOU with DARPA for possible experimentation with TIA technology in the future."
1/24/03 - Senate Limits Total Information Awareness System. Senators led
by Ron Wyden (D-OR) accepted Amendment 59 to a spending bill that will
suspend the development of the Total Information Awareness (TIA) system.
Funding for development of TIA will end 60 days after the passage of the bill
unless the intelligence community submits a detailed report to Congress on the
privacy and civil liberties implications of the system. The amendment further
requires Congressional authorization before TIA is deployed by any agency.
However, exceptions in the amendment allow President Bush to approve continued
funding for TIA, and the use of TIA for military operations outside the United
States.
2/20/03 - President Bush signed reconciled House Senate version of above law
with provision that terminates funding to TIA in 90 days and requires a
Congressional update.(Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, 2003, No.108?7,
Division M, §111(b) [signed Feb. 20, 2003])
5/20/03 - 90 days later, Pentagon changes name of TIA from Total Information
Awareness to Terrorist Information Awareness and calls it new program. Problem
solved!
7/18/03 - Senate votes unanimously to block funding for the Total Information
Awareness program. According to the Defense Department appropriations, no
funding "may be obligated or expended on research and development on the
Terrorism Information Awareness program." - - over Bush admin. objections.
Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2004, Pub. L. No. 108?87, § 8131, 117
Stat. 1054, 1102 (2003)
9/26/03 - Congress eliminates funding for TIA save some military and foreign
surveillance exceptions - see Sec. 8131 (see signing statement below)
Sec. 8131. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds
appropriated or otherwise made available in this or any other Act may be
obligated for the Terrorism Information Awareness Program: Provided, That this
limitation shall not apply to the program hereby authorized for Processing,
analysis, and collaboration tools for counterterrorism foreign intelligence, as
described in the Classified Annex accompanying the Department of Defense
Appropriations Act, 2004, for which funds are expressly provided in the
National Foreign Intelligence Program for counterterrorism foreign intelligence
purposes.
(b) None of the funds provided for Processing, analysis, and collaboration
tools for counterterrorism foreign intelligence shall be available for
deployment or implementation except for:
(1) lawful military operations of the United States conducted outside the
United States; or
(2) lawful foreign intelligence activities conducted wholly overseas, or
wholly against non-United States citizens. (c) In this section, the term
"Terrorism Information Awareness Program" means the program known either as
Terrorism Information Awareness or Total Information Awareness, or any
successor program, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or
any other Department or element of the Federal Government, including the
individual components of such Program developed by the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency.
9/30-10/1/03 - Bush signs '04 Defense budget with signing statement,
Sections 8082, 8091, 8117, and 8131 of the Act make clear that the classified
annex accompanies but is not incorporated as a part of the Act, and therefore
the classified annex does not meet the bicameralism and presentment
requirements specified by the Constitution for the making of a law.
Accordingly, the executive branch shall construe the classified annex
references in sections 8082, 8091, 8117, and 8131 as advisory in effect. My
Administration continues to discourage any efforts to enact secret law as part
of defense funding legislation and encourages instead appropriate use of
classified annexes to committee reports and joint statements of managers that
accompany the final legislation.
(via Balkanization comments)
1/1/04 - New fiscal year 2004. [ed: I think fiscal years begin October 1, so
this should be October 1, 2003]
Early '04 - Testimony of James Comey:
In the early part of 2004, the Department of Justice was engaged ? the
Office of Legal Counsel, under my supervision ? in a reevaluation both
factually and legally of a particular classified program. And it was a program
that was renewed on a regular basis, and required signature by the attorney
general certifying to its legality.
And the ? and I remember the precise date. The program had to be renewed by
March the 11th, which was a Thursday, of 2004. And we were engaged in a very
intensive reevaluation of the matter.
And a week before that March 11th deadline, I had a private meeting with
the attorney general for an hour, just the two of us, and I laid out for him
what we had learned and what our analysis was in this particular matter."
2/11/04 - Senate Intelligence Committe hearing: "one of TIA's strongest
critics questioned whether intelligence officials knew that some of its
programs had been moved to other agencies. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asked
Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte and FBI Director Robert
Mueller whether it was "correct that when [TIA] was closed, that several ...
projects were moved to various intelligence agencies.... I and others on this
panel led the effort to close [TIA]; we want to know if Mr. Poindexter's
programs are going on somewhere else."
Negroponte and Mueller said they didn't know. But Negroponte's deputy, Gen.
Michael V. Hayden, who until recently was director of the NSA, said, "I'd like
to answer in closed session." Asked for comment, Wyden's spokeswoman referred
to his hearing statements." (via the National Journal, 2/23/04)
3/04/04 (est.) - Comey and Ashcroft agree, " We had concerns as to our
ability to certify its legality, which was our obligation for the program to be
renewed." Ashrcroft taken ill. (see Marty Lederman on Comey's testimony at
Balkanization)
3/10/04 - Gonzales hospital visit.
http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/07/tia-and-tsp.html
~~~
Sen. Rockefeller’s Memo To Cheney Preceded TIA Defunding By One Day
By: Nicole Belle on Monday, July 30th, 2007 at 3:15 PM - PDT ah…the power
of the blogosphere…we can do the work that the journalists in the MSM don’t do
and come up with a timeline that cuts through the White House’s obfuscations:
The Next Hurrah:
Commenter joejoejoe sent me a superb timeline to show the chronology of
Congress’ building opposition to the Total Information Awareness program as it
relates to the NSA’s domestic wiretap program[..]
I’d like to pull out just a few salient dates and add four (in bold
italics) to what joejoejoe did. I think the time line lends support for the
argument that one of the problems–a big problem–with the domestic wiretap
program is that it violated clear instructions from Congress.
2/20/03 - President Bush signed reconciled House Senate version of above
law with provision that terminates funding to TIA in 90 days and requires a
Congressional update.(Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, 2003, No.108?7,
Division M, §111(b) [signed Feb. 20, 2003])
5/20/03 - 90 days later, Pentagon changes name of TIA from Total
Information Awareness to Terrorist Information Awareness and calls it new
program. Problem solved!
7/17/03 - Briefing for Intelligence Committee leadership (Pat Roberts,
Jay Rockefeller, Porter Goss, and Jane Harman) on domestic wiretap program.
This would be the last briefing before the crisis March 10 meeting.
7/17/03 - After his SECOND briefing on the program, Jay Rockefeller
writes his CYA memo to Cheney [..]
7/18/03 - Senate votes unanimously to block funding for the Total
Information Awareness program. According to the Defense Department
appropriations, no funding “may be obligated or expended on research and
development on the Terrorism Information Awareness program.” - - over Bush
admin. objections.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/07/30/sen-rockefellers-memo-to-cheney-preceded-tia-defunding-by-one-day/
