Congress draws criticism over NSA oversight

(Politico) Splashing America’s surveillance secrets on the front pages of newspapers for nearly nine months has created an array of scapegoats, from Edward Snowden to the NSA and President Barack Obama.

Now the blame is also spreading to Congress.

Cries of lax Capitol Hill oversight are piling up as Snowden-inspired stories continue to explode in the media, casting doubt on whether the legislative watchdogs can be trusted to oversee national security agencies that they’ve long defended.

Intelligence Committee leaders from the House and Senate insist they’ve done their due diligence but acknowledge that lawmakers can glean only as much information as the president and his team will share. And even then, anything of such a highly classified nature can’t be legally disclosed anyway.

Still, a “trust us” promise from the lawmakers with the highest of high-security clearances isn’t satisfying critics.

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