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Published On: Mon, Jun 10th, 2013

Keith Ellison, Minnesota Dem: Congress knows ‘almost nothing’ about Prism, NSA, and spy program

Minnesota Democrat Keith Ellison discussed the NSA program, responding to comments made by the President during his appearance Sunday on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”

Keith EllisonObama has pointed out that Congress was repeatedly briefed about the program in closed sessions, but if comments Ellison made yesterday on ABC can be believed, those briefings didn’t provide members with enough information for them to play an effective supervisory role.

“I’m allowed to see certain things, and they tell us it’s available if you make time at certain times and places to go see it, but the fact is, no, I’m not aware of the program that was revealed [this week],” Ellison said. “I had no notice. It’s a fiction that everybody in Congress knew.”

Then he was pushed.

STEPHANOPOULOS:  You are a member of Congress. The president said on Friday that every member of Congress has access to information. Can you just first start out by explaining what a member of Congress who is not on the committee knows about this program or can know about this program?

ELLISON:  I would say almost nothing.  The reality is you can’t bring your staff in there, so we are moving around Capitol Hill at lightning speed, nearly every member of Congress is.  If you can’t get any staff support, that means you’ve got to go into that room, you’ve got to sit there and pore through documents over the course of hours.

“I think we need to peel it back, and we need to make sure that we are considering the Constitution when we write these kinds of laws.”

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- Writer and Co-Founder of The Global Dispatch, Brandon has been covering news, offering commentary for years, beginning professionally in 2003 on Crazed Fanboy before expanding into other blogs and sites. Appearing on several radio shows, Brandon has hosted Dispatch Radio, written his first novel (The Rise of the Templar) and completed the three years Global University program in Ministerial Studies to be a pastor. To Contact Brandon email [email protected] ATTN: BRANDON

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  1. Keith Ellison, Minnesota Dem: Congress knows &l... says:

    […] STEPHANOPOULOS: Obama has pointed out that Congress was repeatedly briefed about the program in closed sessions. ELLISON: “I’m allowed to see certain things, and they tell us it’s available if you make time at certain times and places to go see it, but the fact is, no, I’m not aware of the program that was revealed, “I had no notice. It’s a fiction that everybody in Congress knew.” [Then he was pushed.] STEPHANOPOULOS: You are a member of Congress. The president said on Friday that every member of Congress has access to information. Can you just first start out by explaining what a member of Congress who is not on the committee knows about this program or can know about this program?  […]

  2. Congress knows ‘almost nothing’ abo... says:

    […]   […]

  3. Congress knows ‘almost nothing’ about obama’s EXTREMIST citizen survailance: Prism, NSA, and spy program | Telcomil Intl Products and Services says:

    […] See on http://www.theglobaldispatch.com […]

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