On Oct. 04, 2001, George W. Bush signed a President’s Surveillance Program (PSP) authorizing the bulk data collection of American citizens called “Stellar Wind.” This document was drafted solely by attorney John C. Yoo who was clearly being directed by his handlers James P. Chandler, III and Eric H. Holder, Jr., along with Vice President Dick Cheney.
Chandler was evidently coordinating these legalities in conjunction with his secret “public-private” technology companies [Deep State shadow government cartel] involved with the National Infrastructure Assurance Council (NIAC) renamed the National Infrastructure Advisory Council still in operation in 2017 (due for renewal on Sep. 30, 2017).
“OLC (Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice) Assistant Attorney General John Yoo was responsible for drafting the first series of legal memoranda supporting the [Stellar Wind] program . . . Yoo was the only OLC official “read into” the Stellar Wind program from the program’s inception until he left the Department in May 2003.” (PDF, p. 37).
“John Yoo . . . had sole responsibility within that office and with the Department of Justice for developing the legal analysis relating to the Stellar Wind program until May 2003″ in contradiction to his boss Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel Jay Bybee’s ‘two Deputy rule’ so that OLC opinions are reviewed by two OLC Deputy Assistant Attorneys General before going to the OLC Assistant Attorney General for approval.” (PDF, p. 114).
According to the Inspector General’s report on Jul. 10, 2009, “Before the President authorized the PSP on 4 October 2001, Yoo had prepared a memorandum evaluating the legality of a hypothetical electronic surveillance program within the United States to monitor communications of potential terrorists. His memorandum, dated 17 September 2001, was addressed to Deputy White House Counsel Timothy E. Flannigan and entitled Constitutional Standards on Random Electronic Surveillance for Counter-Terrorism Purposes.” (PDF p. 23).
However, this account is contradicted by Michael V. Hayden, C.I.A. Director, who told the Inspector General that “[David S.] Addington [former Counsel to Vice President Richard B. Cheney] drafted the first Presidential Authorization of the PSP. Hayden characterized himself as the ‘subject matter expert,’ and he said that no other NSA personnel, including the General Counsel, participated in drafting the authorization. Hayden also said that DoJ personnel had not been involved in his discussions with Addington concerning the Presidential authorization of the PSP.” (PDF, p. 17).
Nonetheless, “From the inception of the Stellar Wind program in October 2001, vast amounts of information about telephone and e-mail communications were collected and stored in databases at the NSA . . . We found that in the early years of the Stellar Wind program, the Department of Justice lacked the necessary legal resources to carry out an adequate review of the legality of the program . . . Only a single Department attorney [John C. Woo] analyzed the legal basis for the program during his first year and a half of operation . . . the Department determined [in mid-2003] that this attorney’s initial legal analysis was legally and factually flawed.” (PDF, p. 420).
The filmmaker Laura Poitras profiles William Binney, a 32-year veteran of the National Security Agency who helped design a top-secret program he says is broadly collecting Americans’ personal data.
