Hi there,

It is the job of the press to cover power, not cover for power—to hold those in power accountable by documenting what's happening on the ground and amplifying voices at the grassroots. In this critical moment, as attacks on the media escalate, we must continue to cover crackdowns on dissent, immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community, public health and academic freedom. Thanks to a group of generous donors, all donations made today will be DOUBLED, which means your $15 gift is worth $30. If our journalism is important to you, please donate today. Every dollar makes a difference. Thank you so much.

Democracy Now!
Amy Goodman

Non-commercial news needs your support.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

Please do your part today.

Donate

Sen. Rand Paul Files Class Action Suit over NSA Bulk Spying

HeadlineFeb 13, 2014

Republican Sen. Rand Paul has filed a class action lawsuit against the White House and the National Security Agency over the bulk collection of U.S. telephone records. Teaming with the right-wing libertarian group FreedomWorks, Paul said the NSA’s mass retention of phone data violates privacy rights while offering no intelligence gains.

Sen. Rand Paul: “The interesting thing is, is as we’ve looked at this both at the Intelligence Committee level and through investigations by the media, there’s no evidence that there’s been one terrorist caught or detained or prevented uniquely on this information. I’m not against the NSA. I’m not against spying. I’m not against looking at phone records. I just want you to go to a judge, have a person’s name and individualize the warrant. That’s what the Fourth Amendment says.”

Paul says his suit will seek to cover every American who’s used a phone in the last five years. He expects it to reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top