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| ==Whistleblower== | ==Whistleblower== | ||
| {{NSA surveillance}} | {{NSA surveillance}} | ||
| Tice worked at the ] (DIA) until 2002. Tice believed that a DIA co-worker was a Chinese spy. In April 2003 he wrote an email to the person at DIA handling his suspicions about his female co-worker "questioning the competence of counterintelligence at FBI" and stating that he suspected he was being electronically monitored. Shortly thereafter a NSA security officer ordered him to report for "a psychological evaluation". Tice then confronted the DIA agent that he suspected had advised the NSA to order this evaluation. The agent replied that "there was reason to be concerned" and a Defense Department psychologist concluded that Tice suffered from ]. According to Tice, the psychologist came to this conclusion despite "admitt that I did not show any of the normal indications of someone suffering from paranoia." Tice would later say that "I knew my from that day that my career was over." Tice's security clearance was suspended and he was reassigned.<ref>Rebecca Carr (5 May 2005), '']''</ref> | |||
| Tice was terminated by the NSA in May 2005,<ref name=abc2006 /> just days after publicly urging Congress to pass stronger protections for federal intelligence agency whistleblowers facing retaliation. In September 2005, the inspector general issued an unclassified report that found "no evidence" to support Tice's claims.<ref>{{cite web|title=NSA Letter to Russell Tice|url=http://abcnews.go.com/images/Nightline/NSAletter.pdf|work=ABC News Nightline|accessdate=9 August 2013|format=pdf|month=September|year=2006}}</ref> | Tice was finally terminated by the NSA in May 2005,<ref name=abc2006 /> just days after publicly urging Congress to pass stronger protections for federal intelligence agency whistleblowers facing retaliation. In September 2005, the inspector general issued an unclassified report that found "no evidence" to support Tice's claims.<ref>{{cite web|title=NSA Letter to Russell Tice|url=http://abcnews.go.com/images/Nightline/NSAletter.pdf|work=ABC News Nightline|accessdate=9 August 2013|format=pdf|month=September|year=2006}}</ref> | ||
| In December 2005, Tice alleged that the NSA and the DIA were engaged in unlawful and unconstitutional conduct against the American people, sparking a national controversy. Tice stated that the activities involved the Director of the NSA, the Deputies Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations, and the ], and were conducted via very highly sensitive intelligence programs and operations known as ]s (SAP), more commonly referred to as "black world" programs, or "]". Tice was a technical intelligence specialist dealing with SAP programs and operations at both NSA and DIA.<ref name=upi /> | In December 2005, Tice alleged that the NSA and the DIA were engaged in unlawful and unconstitutional conduct against the American people, sparking a national controversy. Tice stated that the activities involved the Director of the NSA, the Deputies Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations, and the ], and were conducted via very highly sensitive intelligence programs and operations known as ]s (SAP), more commonly referred to as "black world" programs, or "]". Tice was a technical intelligence specialist dealing with SAP programs and operations at both NSA and DIA.<ref name=upi /> | ||
Revision as of 17:02, 18 January 2014
| Russell D. Tice | |
|---|---|
 Russ Tice (2009) | |
| Born | 1961 |
| Occupation | Intelligence analyst |
| Employer(s) | U.S. Air Force, Office of Naval Intelligence, Defense Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency |
| Known for | Whistleblowing |
Russell D. Tice (born 1961) is a former intelligence analyst for the U.S. Air Force, Office of Naval Intelligence, Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and National Security Agency (NSA). During his nearly 20-year career with various United States government agencies, he conducted intelligence missions related to the Kosovo War, Afghanistan, the USS Cole bombing in Yemen, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
In December, 2005, Tice helped spark a national controversy over claims that the NSA and the DIA were engaged in unlawful and unconstitutional wiretaps on American citizens. He later admitted that he was one of the sources that were used in the New York Times reporting on the wiretap activity in December 2005. After speaking publicly about the need for legislation to protect whistleblowers, Tice received national attention as the first NSA-whistleblower in May 2005 before William Binney, Thomas Andrews Drake, Mark Klein, Thomas Tamm, and Edward Snowden came forward.
Whistleblower
 National Security Agency surveillance |
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 Map of global NSA data collection as of 2007, with countries subject to the most data collection shown in red |
Programs
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| Whistleblowers |
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Tice worked at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) until 2002. Tice believed that a DIA co-worker was a Chinese spy. In April 2003 he wrote an email to the person at DIA handling his suspicions about his female co-worker "questioning the competence of counterintelligence at FBI" and stating that he suspected he was being electronically monitored. Shortly thereafter a NSA security officer ordered him to report for "a psychological evaluation". Tice then confronted the DIA agent that he suspected had advised the NSA to order this evaluation. The agent replied that "there was reason to be concerned" and a Defense Department psychologist concluded that Tice suffered from psychotic paranoia. According to Tice, the psychologist came to this conclusion despite "admitt that I did not show any of the normal indications of someone suffering from paranoia." Tice would later say that "I knew my from that day that my career was over." Tice's security clearance was suspended and he was reassigned.
Tice was finally terminated by the NSA in May 2005, just days after publicly urging Congress to pass stronger protections for federal intelligence agency whistleblowers facing retaliation. In September 2005, the inspector general issued an unclassified report that found "no evidence" to support Tice's claims.
In December 2005, Tice alleged that the NSA and the DIA were engaged in unlawful and unconstitutional conduct against the American people, sparking a national controversy. Tice stated that the activities involved the Director of the NSA, the Deputies Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations, and the U.S. Secretary of Defense, and were conducted via very highly sensitive intelligence programs and operations known as special access programs (SAP), more commonly referred to as "black world" programs, or "black ops". Tice was a technical intelligence specialist dealing with SAP programs and operations at both NSA and DIA.
On December 16, the New York Times revealed that the NSA was engaged in a clandestine eavesdropping program that bypassed the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court. Media reports on January 10, 2006, indicated Tice was a source of the Times leak, which revealed that, under the direction of the White House and without requisite court orders, the NSA has been intercepting international communications to and from points within the United States.
In a letter dated December 18, 2005, to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and to Senator Pat Roberts, Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, he said he was prepared to testify about the SAP programs, under the provisions of the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act. It is not known, however, what the testimony would specifically involve.
It has been assumed that the problem concerned the electronic surveillance of Americans, but in an interview published 13 January 2006, Tice said:
- "there's no way the programs I want to talk to Congress about should be public ever, unless maybe in 200 years they want to declassify them. You should never learn about it; no one at the Times should ever learn about these things. But that same mechanism that allows you to have a program like this at an extremely high, sensitive classification level could also be used to mask illegality, like spying on Americans."
In a press release issued by the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition on December 22, 2005, Tice explained the public aspect of his charges, stating that, "As a Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) officer it is continually drilled into us that the very first law chiseled in the SIGINT equivalent of the Ten Commandments (USSID-18) is that Thou shall not spy on American persons without a court order from FISA. This law is continually drilled into each NSA intelligence officer throughout his or her career. The very people that lead the National Security Agency have violated this holy edict of SIGINT".
On December 23, 2005, the Austin American-Statesman reported Tice's allegations that spying on Americans may involve a massive computer system known as ECHELON, which is able to search and filter hundreds of thousands of phone calls and e-mails in seconds.
On January 3, 2006, Tice appeared on the national radio/TV show Democracy Now! and said he wanted to testify before Congress. Tice said "I'm involved with some certain aspects of the intelligence community, which are very closely held, and I believe I have seen some things that are illegal".
On January 5, 2006, The Washington Times reported that Tice wanted to testify before Congress about electronic intelligence programs that he asserted were carried out illegally by the NSA and DIA. "I intend to report to Congress probable unlawful and unconstitutional acts conducted while I was an intelligence officer with the National Security Agency and with the Defense Intelligence Agency," Tice stated in letters, dated December 16, 2005 and disclosed by the New York Times.
In a letter dated January 10, 2006, Renee Seymour, Director of the NSA Special Access Programs Central Office, warned Tice that members of neither the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, nor of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence had clearance to receive the classified information about the SAP's that Tice was prepared to provide. An article by Chris Strohm in Government Executive says that some congressional staffers believe that Tice "comes with baggage".
In reaction to Tice's claims, Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly, two prominent figures in conservative media, launched an offensive against his credibility. On his Fox News broadcast of January 11, 2006, O'Reilly said that Tice should be jailed for his whistleblowing activity. But Tice told ABC News that "As far as I'm concerned, as long as I don't say anything that's classified, I'm not worried...We need to clean up the intelligence community. We've had abuses, and they need to be addressed."
On February 14, 2006, United Press International (UPI) reported Tice testified to the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations that the Special Access Program might have violated millions of Americans' Constitutional rights, but that neither the committee members nor the NSA inspector general had clearance to review the program.
On May 12, 2006, ThinkProgress reported a story by CongressDaily in which Tice was said to be planning an appearance the next week, before the Senate Armed Service Committee, when further revelations would be made about "a different angle" of the NSA's surveillance program. Ultimately this did not occur and it is still unclear why.
On July 26, 2006, he was subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury regarding violations of federal law. He stated, "This latest action by the government is designed only for one purpose: to ensure that people who witness criminal action being committed by the government are intimidated into remaining silent".
On the first of two consecutive appearances on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann (January 21, 2009), Russ Tice stated that while he worked in the NSA, his role was to follow the communications of specific individuals in a program separate from the one that had been previously disclosed. and January 22, He stated that he initially understood that he was to identify the communication methods of journalists (and entire news organizations) so that they could avoid collection. He subsequently learned that these channels were being recorded 24/7. Since this appeared to be a political and not security operation of the NSA, Tice withheld disclosing it until the next administration. Tice also stated that programs were given dual military and intelligence status so that both types of congressional oversight could be simultaneously denied.
On June 19, 2013, Tice claimed while being interviewed that the NSA had spied on Barack Obama while he was a senator, along with monitoring federal judges, ranking military officials, and other members of Congress, saying he himself had seen and held papers ordering such actions. He went on to say, "This thing is incredible what NSA has done. They've basically turned themselves—in my opinion—into a rogue agency that has J. Edgar Hoover capabilities on a monstrous scale on steroids".
See also
Portal:
- NSA whistleblowers: Edward Snowden, William Binney, Thomas Andrews Drake, Mark Klein, Thomas Tamm, Perry Fellwock, William Hamilton Martin, Bernon F. Mitchell
- Psychiatric reprisal
- Hepting v. AT&T
- Room 641A
References
- ^ "Whistleblower says NSA violations bigger". UPI.com. United Press International. 14 February 2006. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
A former NSA employee said Tuesday there is another top-secret surveillance program ongoing that might have violated millions of Americans' Constitutional rights
- ^ Ross, Brian (10 January 2006). "NSA Whistleblower Alleges Illegal Spying". ABC News. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
The same day the New York Times broke the story of the NSA eavesdropping without warrants, Tice surfaced as a whistleblower in the agency. He told ABC News that he was a source for the Times' reporters.
- ^ Gertz, Bill (5 January 2006). "NSA whistleblower asks to testify". WashTimes.com. Washington Times. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
- Rebecca Carr (5 May 2005), NSA fires whistleblower Pulse-Journal
- "NSA Letter to Russell Tice" (pdf). ABC News Nightline. 2006. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ "Former NSA Intelligence Analyst & Action Officer Urges to be Heard by Congress Regarding Unlawful Conduct by NSA". nswbc.org. 22 December 2005. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- Sanchez, Julian (13 January 2006). "Inside the Puzzle Palace: A Reason interview with NSA whistleblower Russell Tice". Reason.com. Retrieved 2011-12-10.
- Amy Goodman (3 January 2006). "Interview with Tice about NSA Spying" (transcript/video/MP3). Democracy Now. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
- Shakir, Faiz (12 May 2006). "NSA Whistleblower To Expose More Unlawful Activity: 'People…Are Going To Be Shocked'". thinkprogress.org. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- NSA whistleblower is subpoenaed to testify before Federal Grand Jury July 28, 2006
- "Msnbc.msn.com". Msnbc.msn.com. Retrieved 2011-12-10.
- "Msnbc.msn.com". Msnbc.msn.com. Retrieved 2011-12-10.
- Wing, Nick (20 June 2013). "Russ Tice, Bush-Era Whistleblower, Claims NSA Ordered Wiretap Of Barack Obama In 2004". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- Howerton, Jason (20 June 2013). "Bush-Era NSA Whistleblower Makes Most Explosive Allegations Yet About Extent of Gov't Surveillance — and You Won't Believe Who He Says They Spied On". theblaze.com. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- kevink (20 June 2013). "Whistleblower Russ Tice Says Senator Obama Was Spied On By The NSA In 2004". dailypaul.com. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
External links
- DefenseTech - 'Ex-NSA Blasts Taps, Calls for CIA Breakup', David Axe (May 9, 2006)
- In These Times - 'NSA Thwarts Whistleblower', Leah A Nelson, In These Times, (May 15, 2006)
- Russ Tice at IMDb