Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller defended the National Security Agency's surveillance programs that were leaked by Edward Snowden and announced that the FBI is conducting a criminal investigation into Snowden, according to the Washington Post.
Mueller testified in front of the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday and said that the information published in the Guardian and the Washington Post has "caused significant harm to our nation and our safety."
"We are taking all necessary steps to hold this person responsible for these disclosures," Mueller said.
The head of the NSA, Gen. Keith Alexander, testified in front of a Senate committee Wednesday and said that the surveillance program has been responsible for thwarting dozens of terrorist threats. Mueller agreed with Alexander's assessment on Thursday, according to the Washington Post.
Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Mark Udall, D-Colo., issued a statement refuting Alexander's assertion.
"We have not yet seen any evidence showing that the NSA's dragnet collection of Americans' phone records has produced any uniquely valuable intelligence," the statement read. "Gen. Alexander's testimony yesterday suggested that the NSA's bulk phone records collection program helped thwart 'dozens' of terrorist attacks, but all of the plots that he mentioned appear to have been identified using other collection methods. The public deserves a clear explanation."
Mueller defended the wide scope of the NSA's surveillance programs by saying that it would have been possible to prevent 9-11 if the program had been in place in 2001. Mueller said that a phone call was made by Khalid al-Midhar, one of the hijackers, to a Yemeni safe house that would have been intercepted and acted upon under the current program, according to the Guardian.
The FBI had used article 215 of the Patriot Act as justification to target all calls made within the U.S. because they "might become relevant" to terror investigations, many lawmakers were questioning whether the FBI had acted within the bounds of the law by doing so.
"A dragnet subpoena for every telephone record makes a mockery of the relevance standard under [section] 215," Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said. "If everything in the world is relevant, then the word has no meaning."
Mueller explained to the committee that upholding civil liberties and civil rights is a very important duty, but sometimes the need to protect the country infringes upon those.
"I think most of us in the government would love to be able to disclose more because it would be more understandable to persons," Mueller said. "But you have the conflicting values of trying to protect the country. And trying to protect the information enables us to continuously identify and to intercept the communications of terrorists in an effort to thwart attacks. That's the conflict."
It has been announced that Mueller will be stepping down as director of the FBI in September. Mueller has served in the position for 12 years, the longest any director has served other than J. Edgar Hoover, according to the Washington Post.
