What's the chance that NSA will leak r.e. targtes of phone tapping?

[Don Claybrook]

I'm wondering just how tight and secretive the NSA is. How closely guarded was this information? If Agent So-and-so were to leak to the press that Bush's phone taps were listening in on conversations of senators, etc, would the source of the leak be immediately known? Or does it take a large enough group of people to do the spying that the source of the leak would be more difficult to trace?

I ask this because it feels like a little more push is needed. This is a sad state of affairs, since every sentient American should at least be thinking about the possibility of impeachment right now. So far, it doesn't feel like this has penetrated the US's collective conscience right now.

Give me odds on further leaks revealing more about this story--huge, slim, somewhere in-between?

[tx_dem41]

1. My guess (and its just a guess) is that the leaks are not coming

from INSIDE of NSA and will not. That is probably the most secretive organization in the Government, manned by very serious and career people. They take their clearances quite seriously. My guess is that the leaks are coming from people that receive (currently) or have received NSA intelligence.

[Don Claybrook]

4. So that would mean

I assume that the primary material went only to a handful of people in the White House. This would seem to suggest that the chances for further leaks is pretty slim.

[tx_dem41]

9. I believe that some (if not a lot of)NSA-originated intelligence makes its

way to the Pentagon (DIA) and State Dept. If the leaks are coming from anywhere, those would be my guesses.

My guess is that the leaks are mainly coming from former officials that still talk to present officials.

[bigtree]

2. As Legal times noted in September of this year,

"During the confirmation hearings of John Bolton as the U.S. representative to the United Nations, it came to light that the NSA had freely revealed intercepted conversations of U.S. citizens to Bolton while he served at the State Department. . . . More generally, Newsweek reports that from January 2004 to May 2005, the NSA supplied intercepts and names of 10,000 U.S. citizens to policy-makers at many departments, other U.S. intelligence services, and law enforcement agencies."

Those folks know what's up. This info was apparently easy to get, without much fuss. Should be a link in the chain that will break.

[ThomWV]

3. Zero - Zilch - Nada, Not a Fucking Chance In Hell

I worked for them for 4 years. You will not be hearing any leaks from the NSA.

On Edit:

Let me revise that to say this: There may be leaks about NSA activity from people very close to the NSA but there will never be leaks from the working stiffs inside the NSA. This isn't the CIA or any of the other myriad of Agency's which handel or create classified information. At the NSA, and to those it hires, an oath of secrecy means something.

[Don Claybrook]

6. Thanks for your unique perspective

I'm hoping against hope that some of them leak anyway, but it sounds like you know of what you speak.

Thanks.

[tx_dem41]

8. Thank you for confirming my guess in post #1.

I know people that work at NSA, and that was my opinion as well.

[matcom]

5. Nothing. Never. No way.

the NSA does NOT leak. period.

[mmonk]

7. I think one of their purposes is

no transparency.