Senate Democrats warn reported NSA privacy violations only 'tip of the iceberg'

Senate Democrats warn reported NSA privacy violations only 'tip of the iceberg'
By Blake Neff - 08-16-13 05:35 PM ET

Sens. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) warned Friday that recent revelations of privacy violations by the National Security Agency (NSA) were “just the tip of a larger iceberg.”

On Thursday, The Washington Postpublished an internal NSA audit and other documents leaked by Edward Snowden that showed the NSA had broken its own privacy rules thousands of times since 2008.

Udall and Wyden, who both sit on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a joint statement that the new leak vindicated past claims that “violations of [privacy] laws and rules were more serious than had been acknowledged.”

They implied, however, that privacy violations when far further than was revealed Thursday.

“While Senate rules prohibit us from confirming or denying some of the details in today’s press reports, the American people have a right to know more details about the scope and severity of these violations,” they said.

The senators urged the Obama administration to release additional information about the nature of government surveillance and possible violations of the law.

They also called for greater transparency in the operations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and for the appointment of a public advocate to contest executive branch claims made before the court. In a press conference last week, President Barack Obama promised to create such an advocate.