Pentagon watchdog 'not aware' of NSA bulk phone data collection

Admission that DoD office doesn’t have investigations open into the controversial surveillance comes as new report reveals NSA can harvest every call made in unnamed foreign country

Spencer Ackerman in Washington

The Pentagon’s intelligence watchdog said he was “not aware” of the National Security Agency’s bulk domestic phone records collection programs before the Guardian exposed it in June, nor does his office have investigations open into the controversial surveillance.

The admission by Anthony C Thomas, the deputy Defense Department inspector general for intelligence and special program assessments – who has oversight responsibilities on the National Security Agency – comes despite months of public assurances that the NSA’s vast surveillance activities are thoroughly overseen, including by the Pentagon inspector general.

Soon after Thomas discussed his oversight over intelligence with reporters at the Pentagon on Tuesday, the Washington Post published a story, based on Edward Snowden’s disclosures, reporting that the NSA can harvest every telephone call made in an unnamed foreign country and store them for up to a month.

Thomas, an Air Force and intelligence veteran who became deputy inspector general in March 2013, said he “can’t quantify” the amount of oversight he performs on the NSA.

“The bulk of that is in reviews that we have done, and in the collaborative work that we have done with the NSA IG,” Thomas said.

“From my own personal knowledge, those programs, in and of themselves, I was not personally aware,” Thomas said.

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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/18/pentagon-watchdog-nsa-bulk-phone-collection