It seems that President Obama is sending the fox to guard the hen house, as in the case of James Clapper, the director of National Intelligence, picking a panel of ‘independent experts’ to review the government’s surveillance programs. The members on the panel will also report to Clapper, the Washington Post reports.  Excuse me for my lack of faith in this process and the panel. This is the same person, James Clapper, who lied to Congress on spying. Come on President Obama….think!

At the direction of the President, I am establishing the Director of National Intelligence Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies to examine our global signals-intelligence collection and surveillance capability.

The Review Group will assess whether, in light of advancements in communications technologies, the United States employs its technical collection capabilities in a manner that optimally protects our national security and advances our foreign policy while appropriately accounting for other policy considerations, such as the risk of unauthorized disclosure and our need to maintain the public trust.

The Review Group will brief its interim findings to the President within 60 days of its establishment, and provide a final report with recommendations no later than Dec. 15, 2013. Source:  Director of National Intelligence

This was cross-posted from The Hinterland Gazette.