
The operative who has become the official operative of the National Security Agency
- August 11, 2021
The official operative for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the spy agency that collects and analyzes data on people and activities around the world, is an avid reader of his own articles, according to a new report.
“It’s an amazing privilege to work with John,” said NSA contractor Robert Litt, who is known to his bosses for his enthusiasm for news and intelligence.
The New York Times reports that Litt’s “job” is to be the unofficial operator of the agency’s massive database of NSA databases.
The Times says Litt has been on staff since 2014, and has been instrumental in establishing and expanding the NSA’s operations, including its ability to tap into Internet communications.
Litt had worked for the agency for three years, but has been assigned the role of “operating the official” for the NSA since September.
He says he works closely with NSA director Michael Rogers and that he’s “not the person to call the shots” on the agency.
Rogers is known as “the brains behind the operation.”
He was named NSA director in March and is expected to stay on the job for a second term, which is set to expire at the end of the year.
He also oversaw the acquisition of more than $400 billion in military hardware.
He is also the chief architect of the NSA program known as Prism, which collects data on American citizens in bulk and stores it on servers outside the United States.
The NSA says the program has been used to prevent the theft of trade secrets and foreign intelligence information.
In an interview with NPR in January, Litt said his job is “to read what the people are saying, and to read what they’re doing, and then to make sure that they’re telling the right story to the right people, and that they have the right legal authorization.”
The Times said Litt “is also a dedicated student of the history of intelligence and law.”
Litt says he’s not an advocate for privacy, and says he doesn’t support government efforts to collect data on Americans.
He has said that privacy is important to him and his fellow NSA workers, but that he believes that the NSA can “protect us from foreign threats” without “over-classifying” Americans, and without having “unconstitutional searches and seizures.”
LITT’S NEW MOVE AT THE NSA Litt also says he is “not” a “wannabe privacy crusader,” and that his job “is to make the best of the situation we’re in,” and not try to “do things the NSA wouldn’t want.”
He says that “the NSA is doing its job.
The American people can decide for themselves whether or not they want privacy.”
He added, “If the government decides that it wants to collect information from you, and if the NSA decides that you want to have this information, then that’s their prerogative, and we don’t interfere in that.
We don’t do that.”
The NSA’s mission is to collect, analyze, and share information about foreign threats to the United Kingdom and other allies, and protect our people and the American people.
The agency has “a responsibility to protect the American homeland and the people of the United State, as well as our allies and partners,” the NSA said in a statement.
But the NSA has been accused of using its surveillance programs to spy on American officials and political figures for years.
In 2013, an inspector general report found that “NSA employees had engaged in unlawful surveillance of foreign officials and leaders,” including at least one who had a “secret back channel” with Russian officials.
The report also found that the spy service had a record of “inciting foreign governments to attack the United Nations, its headquarters, and other U.S. facilities.”
Littering of the intelligence collection program has also been a frequent occurrence.
In February, the New York Police Department announced it would end the practice of littering NSA data with trash, but said the agency would continue to use the program to monitor the public’s trash collection habits.
The newspaper reported that the department is now relying on trash collection as an excuse to conduct surveillance on the public.
The Times reports Litt will be in the office “until at least December 31,” and has said he expects to spend about half of his time there.
LITT REQUIRED TO RETURN NSA DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC UNDER FOLLOWING HIS UNCLE TOMS FOLLOW UP: NYT