It is no secret that the NSA has been spying on Americans and international citizens who pose no foreseeable threat to American national security, including heads of state. Though information is still coming to light regarding the breadth and depth of government surveillance, evidence suggests that the NSA has stored at least five years worth of metadata for “virtually every phone call in the United States.” Files leaked by former NSA employee Edward Snowden to journalists Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, Ewan McCaskill (of The Guardian), Barton Gellman (of the Washington Post), and a small group of other reporters, continue to provide startling findings regarding the surveillance state on a regular basis.
As more documents come to light, it becomes increasingly clear that the NSA has lied to the American people regarding their surveillance tactics. Not only have senior NSA officials lied about whether they were collecting data from Americans (they said they weren’t, they were), but they have told lies large and small about the logistics, limitations, and effectiveness of their work. Publishing a list of lies told by the NSA may be premature, as there are still mountains of Snowden documents that have yet be released, but there has already been enough misinformation from the NSA that the agency will be attempting to regain credibility with the American people for years to come. Here are the 10 Biggest Lies Told By the NSA.