Administration Quote by Barack Obama

“Barack Obama, in a 2007 stump speech for his nascent presidential campaign, had pledged, ‘No more illegal wiretapping of American citizens. No more National…

— Luke Harding

This wholesale invasion of Americans’ and foreign citizens’ privacy does not contribute to our security; it puts in danger the very liberties we’re trying…

— Daniel Ellsberg

I think we [Americans] are going to look back and realize that the civil liberties that we've given up in the name of security,…

— Jeremy Scahill

I think whoever is the president [he] must guard your liberties, must not erode your rights in America.

— George W. Bush

Look at it this way: this administration is taking unprecedented steps to make sure that the government's secrets remain private while simultaneously invading the…

— Charles M. Blow

There are people who are always going to try to engage in activity that is illegal and they're going to try to subvert surveillance.…

— Laura Poitras

With police wielding unprecedented powers to invade privacy, tap phones and conduct searches seemingly at random, our civil liberties are in a very precarious…

— Walter Cronkite

The combination of the growth of these digital technologies, the ability of the government to conjure up these secret interpretations, plus a very unusual…

— Ron Wyden

Every American, regardless of their background, has the right to live free of unwarranted government intrusion. Repealing the worst provisions of the Patriot Act…

— Pete Stark

Ending mass surveillance of private phone calls under the Patriot Act is a historic victory for the rights of every citizen. Yet while we…

— Edward Snowden

We must protect the very things that make America so special - most certainly including our civil liberties. But we cannot do so without…

— Mike Pompeo

“Americans now considered the danger of surveillance of greater concern than the danger of terrorism: Overall, 47% say their greater concern about government anti-terrorism…

— Glenn Greenwald