Did PRISM Really Help Foil NYC Terrorist Attack? Documents Show Otherwise…

◼ NSA phone spying program FOILED plan to blow up New York City subway, claim under fire security officials - AP via Daily Mail

The government's broad programs to collect U.S. phone records and Internet traffic helped disrupt a 2009 plot to bomb the New York City subways, a senior U.S. intelligence official said.

But the assertion raises as many questions as it answers because court testimony indicated the subway plot investigation began with an email.

Over the past days, The Guardian newspaper and The Washington Post have revealed classified documents showing how the National Security Agency sweeps up phone records and Internet data in its hunt for terrorists. Those programs have come under criticism from civil libertarians and some in Congress who say they were too broad and collected too much about innocent Americans.

◼ Did PRISM Really Help Foil NYC Terrorist Attack? Documents Show Otherwise… - Evan McMurry/Mediaite