Tice was dismissed by the NSA in May 2005, According to Tice, claims that he had psychological problems are "bunk" and that 'that's the way the NSA deals with troublemakers and whistleblowers'. In December 2005, Tice alleged that both (NSA) and the DIA were engaged in unlawful and unconstitutional conduct against the American people, sparking a national controversy. Tice stated that the activities involved the Director of the NSA, the Deputies Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations, and the
U.S. Secretary of Defense, and were conducted via very highly sensitive intelligence programs and operations known as
special access programs (SAP), more commonly referred to as "black world" programs, or "
black ops". Tice was a technical intelligence specialist dealing with SAP programs and operations at both NSA and DIA. In a letter dated December 18, 2005, to the
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and to Senator
Pat Roberts, Chairman of the
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, he said he was prepared to testify about the SAP programs, under the provisions of the
Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act. In a press release issued by the
National Security Whistleblowers Coalition on December 22, 2005, Tice explained the public aspect of his charges, stating that, "As a
Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) officer it is continually drilled into us that the very first law chiseled in the SIGINT equivalent of the Ten Commandments (USSID-18) is that Thou shall not spy on American persons without a court order from FISA. This law is continually drilled into each NSA intelligence officer throughout his or her career. The very people that lead the National Security Agency have violated this
holy edict of SIGINT". On December 23, 2005, the
Austin American-Statesman reported Tice's allegations that spying on Americans may involve a massive computer system known as
ECHELON, which is able to search and filter hundreds of thousands of phone calls and e-mails in seconds. On January 3, 2006, Tice appeared on the national radio/TV show
Democracy Now! and said he wanted to testify before Congress. Tice said "I'm involved with some certain aspects of the intelligence community, which are very closely held, and I believe I have seen some things that are illegal". On January 5, 2006,
The Washington Times reported that Tice wanted to testify before Congress about electronic intelligence programs that he asserted were carried out illegally by the NSA and DIA. "I intend to report to Congress probable unlawful and unconstitutional acts conducted while I was an intelligence officer with the National Security Agency and with the Defense Intelligence Agency," Tice stated in letters, dated December 16, 2005 and disclosed by the
New York Times. In a letter dated January 10, 2006, Renee Seymour, Director of the NSA Special Access Programs Central Office, warned Tice that members of neither the
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, nor of the
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence had clearance to receive the classified information about the SAP's that Tice was prepared to provide. In reaction to Tice's claims,
Rush Limbaugh and
Bill O'Reilly, two prominent figures in conservative media, launched an offensive against his credibility. On his
Fox News broadcast of January 11, 2006, O'Reilly said that Tice should be jailed for his whistleblowing activity. But Tice told ABC News that "As far as I'm concerned, as long as I don't say anything that's classified, I'm not worried ... We need to clean up the intelligence community. We've had abuses, and they need to be addressed." On February 14, 2006,
United Press International (UPI) reported Tice testified to the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations that the Special Access Program might have violated millions of Americans' Constitutional rights, but that neither the committee members nor the NSA inspector general had clearance to review the program. On May 12, 2006, ThinkProgress reported a story by CongressDaily in which Tice was said to be planning an appearance the next week, before the Senate Armed Service Committee, when further revelations would be made about "a different angle" of the NSA's surveillance program. Ultimately this did not occur and it is still unclear why. On July 26, 2006, he was subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury regarding violations of federal law. He stated, "This latest action by the government is designed only for one purpose: to ensure that people who witness criminal action being committed by the government are intimidated into remaining silent". On January 21 and 22, 2009, Tice appeared on
MSNBC's
Countdown with Keith Olbermann and stated that while he worked in the NSA, his role was to follow the communications of specific individuals in a program separate from the one that had been previously disclosed. Tice also stated that programs were given dual military and intelligence status so that both types of congressional oversight could be simultaneously denied. Tice said he initially understood that he was to identify the communication methods of journalists (and entire news organizations) so that they could avoid collection. He said it was difficult for him to communicate securely after he became a whistleblower since "I knew all my communications were tapped, my phones, my computer, and I've had the FBI on me like flies". On the heels of the first
Edward Snowden NSA
disclosures in 2013, Tice was asked during an interview on
All In with Chris Hayes, "What was your experience in trying to blow the whistle from inside the NSA? And does it make you understand why Snowden might have done what he did?" Tice replied, Asked in June 2013 by
The Guardian to comment on the early revelations about phone data collection by the NSA, Tice said: "What is going on is much larger and more systemic than anything anyone has ever suspected or imagined ... I figured it would probably be about 2015 [before the NSA had] the computer capacity ... to collect all digital communications word for word ... But I think I'm wrong. I think they have it right now." Later during the summer of 2013 Tice alleged that during his employment with the NSA, the agency had a program that targeted the phone and computer conversations, word for word, of members of Congress, the Supreme Court, Admirals and Generals, and that the NSA had
wiretapped Barack Obama while he was a Senate candidate, saying he had seen and held papers ordering such actions. Tice claimed the surveillance extended to lawyers and law firms, judges (one of whom,
Samuel Alito "is now sitting on the Supreme Court ... two are former FISA court judges"), State Department officials, people "in the executive service that were part of the White House", antiwar groups, US companies and banking and financial firms that do international business, NGOs and humanitarian groups such as the
Red Cross, and antiwar civil rights groups. In his opinion, this 'wide-ranging' surveillance could offer intelligence agencies 'unthinkable power to blackmail their opponents'. Tice said he was "worried that the intelligence community now has sway over what is going on". ==See also==