Obama's Idea of Independent Experts: Review panel has close ties to Spy Agency

09/26/13

Stung by public unease about new details of spying by the National Security Agency, President Obama selected a panel of advisers he described as independent experts to scrutinize the NSA’s surveillance programs to be sure they weren’t violating civil liberties and to restore Americans’ trust. 

But with just weeks remaining before its first deadline to report back to the White House, the review panel has effectively been operating as an arm of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees the NSA and all other US spy efforts.

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