The untold story in the NSA spying scandal: blackmail

Indeed, whistleblower Edward Snowden has accused the NSA of actually conducting such surveillance. In a December 2013 letter to the Brazilian people, he wrote, "They even keep track of who is having an affair or looking at pornography, in case they need to damage their target's reputation." If Snowden is right, then one key goal of NSA surveillance of world leaders is not U.S. national security but political blackmail - as it has been since 1898.

Today, the NSA tracks people's porn-viewing habits in order to discredit activists. The NSA also gathers and keeps nude and suggestive photos of people in order to blackmail them. [...]

FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds alleged under oath that a recently-serving Democratic Congresswoman was secretly videotaped - for blackmail purposes - during a lesbian affair. There have been allegations of blackmail of gay activities within the U.S. armed forces for years. [...]

NSA whistleblower Russell Tice (a key source in the 2005 New York Times report that blew the lid off the Bush administration's use of warrantless wiretapping), also says:

• The NSA is spying on and blackmailing its overseers in Washington, as well as Supreme Court judges, generals and others
• The agency started spying on Barack Obama when he was just a candidate for the Senate

And senior NSA executive Thomas Drake explains to Washington's Blog that the NSA can use information gathered from mass surveillance to frame anyone it doesn't like.

source: Article 'The Untold Story In the NSA Spying Scandal: Blackmail'; Posted by George Washington [nickname?]; www.nakedcapitalism.com/2014/07/exclusive-high-level-nsa-whistleblower-says-blackmail-huge-unreported-part-mass-surveillance.html; naked capitalism; 20 July 2014