Former ACLU Lawyer Now Runs The Legal Office For The Director Of National Intelligence

Tim Edgar, a former ACLU lawyer, says he was surprised when he was offered the job in 2006 as civil liberties officer for national intelligence. By H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY

Ex-ACLU Lawyer Settles Into Government Role -- USA Today

McLEAN, Va. — Tim Edgar, lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, never imagined he'd be Tim Edgar, lawyer for the director of national intelligence. Many in the intelligence establishment certainly never thought that Edgar, one of their community's fiercest critics, would be a co-worker.

Edgar now works for Mike McConnell, the outgoing director of national intelligence, as a civil liberties officer. With a top security clearance, Edgar reviews classified intelligence programs to ensure the mandate to root out terrorists is balanced with the need to guard people's rights and privacy.

So, does Edgar feel there are proper controls on the government's warrantless surveillance program and other initiatives launched under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which he derided at the ACLU as "a massive tool for secret surveillance?" Does he still think the Justice Department, overseen partly by his boss, the intelligence director, is "quick to label people as connected to terrorism and slow to clear them?"

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My Comment: I would love to be a fly on the wall when the legal hearings and discussions on surveillance guidelines are discussed in this office.

If we are not attacked in the next few years, I would presume this legal oversight was a success. If the U.S. is attacked, and it is found that legal obstacles were the reason ..... off with his head.

My own personal take on whether we are more safer or not .... I definitely do not feel safer, but I hope that I will be proven wrong.