Be Suspicious Of Local Power Also; The Hill: FBI Chief: ‘Be Suspicious’ Of Government Power

By Julian Hattem

FBI Chief Says 'Be Suspicious of Government Power'

 

The head of the FBI says he understands why people worry about the scope of the government's powers, and in fact, he agrees with them.

“I believe people should be suspicious of government power. I am,” Director James Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday morning.

“I think this country was founded by people who were worried about government power so they divided it among three branches,” he added.

In the months since Edward Snowden leaked documents detailing the country’s intelligence programs, Comey said that “it’s hard for me, sometimes, to find the space and time to talk about what I do and why I do it.” 

Though the controversial surveillance raised privacy concerns and made people fret that the government was snooping on their behavior, Comey said that the FBIs programs are run responsibly. He added that those operations had also helped to track down kidnappers and save children.

Comey assumed his top post shortly after the Snowden revelations came to light last summer. While much of the public's outrage has focused on activities at the National Security Agency, the FBI has also come under fire for its use of national security letters and operations to track

Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/technology/206786-fbi-chief-people-should-be-suspicious-of-government-power#ixzz32SaGAuTe