Here’s why ‘trust us’ isn’t working for the NSA any more

For the last decade, the National Security Agency’s argument has been, “trust us.” But recent events have put that trust under strain.

Particularly damaging was Director of National Intelligence James Clapper’s March statement to Congress denying that the government was collecting information about millions of Americans. We now know Clapper’s statement was untrue, and that has made many people skeptical about the NSA’s other assurances about its secret surveillance programs. To allay the fears of Congress and the public, the NSA has been forced to release more and more information about its spying program. But each disclosure seems to raise as many questions as it answers. Last month, the NSA claimed that its programs had thwarted more than 50 terrorist attacks. But reporters have been asking tough questions about that claim; noting that, in most of the cases, the NSA’s domestic spying programs played a tangential role at best. The government will have another opportunity to allay public fears at a hearing July 31 before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Four senior Obama Administration officials will speak on the first panel, while the second panel will include Jameel Jaffer of the American Civil Liberties Union. But the spy agency will have an uphill fight to regain the trust of Congress and the public.