The chairman of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee said today lawmakers "know there are dozens" of terrorist plots that have been disrupted by a sweeping government surveillance programme, saying he's worried that more leaks could further harm national security.
Based on information the Obama administration had declassified earlier in the wake of revelations about the program by former NSA contract employee Edward Snowden, members of Congress are certain that the eavesdropping should be credited for thwarting an attempted attack on New York City's subway system, said Republican Congressman Mike Rogers in an appearance on NBC's "Today" show.
Rogers also said lawmakers are "a little nervous" about Snowden's next move.
The congressman spoke ahead of an open hearing the Intelligence Committee scheduled for later today with Army Gen. Keith Alexander, head of the National Security Agency.
Rogers said he expects the government to declassify additional information about the wide-ranging telephone surveillance program and a companion Prism program targeting the Internet and email communications.
Lawmakers are bewildered about the degree of access that Snowden, who is holed up in Hong Kong, apparently had to the classified information at NSA, Rogers said.
"He lied about his salary, he lied about his capabilities. He lied about his position," Rogers said of Snowden. Yet, he said Congress wants to know how a "relatively low-level employee" could have gained access to such critical data.
Panel members planned to question Alexander about this during the hearing later today, Rogers said.
Rogers speculated that in a position analogous to systems administrator, Snowden could have been akin to "a traffic cop at the busiest New York intersection. And every once in a while he was able to look in and grab hold of" sensitive information. But he said that Snowden erred in believing that the NSA "could listen to Americans' calls. They cannot. And that they can read Americans' emails. They cannot.
