"In March I received a call from the White House counsel’s office regarding a speech I had prepared for my boss at the State Department.The speech was about the impact that the disclosure of National Security Agency surveillance practices would have on U.S. Internet freedom policies.
The draft stated that “if U.S. citizens disagree with congressional and executive branch determinations about the proper scope of signals intelligence activities, they have the opportunity to change the policy through our democratic process.”
But the White House counsel’s office told me that no, that wasn’t true.
I was instructed to amend the line, making a general reference to “our laws and policies,” rather than our intelligence practices.
I did.
Even after all the reforms President Obama has announced, some intelligence practices remain so secret, even from members of Congress, that there is no opportunity for our democracy to change them."
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