19 Quotes by James Bamford

There is now the capacity to make tyranny total in America. Only law ensures that we never fall into that abyss—the abyss from which there is no return.

Like a black hole, NSA pulls in every signal that comes near, but no electron is ever allowed to escape.

Maybe nothing will come of it. Maybe the next time he tries to enter the United States or Britain he will be denied, without explanation. Maybe he will be arrested.

NSA prides itself on learning the lessons of the 1970s and obeying the legal restrictions imposed by FISA. Now it looks like we're going back to the bad old days again.

He would have been on the bottom of my list in terms of suspects.

He'd have a natural interest in what a Russian spymaster had to say, ... It turned out later that he was the person Hanssen originally sent his letter to apply for his job at the KGB.

Here the transcripts are saying, 'Well, you know, there may be people speaking English on this ship,' ... Why would you say that if it's an Egyptian ship, carrying horses?

Today one of the key aspects of NSA is what they call 'information at rest,' this is information in databases.

Every time a Soviet plane took off, NSA knew about it. It was pretty easy to track. Now they have to track people who use cell phones, pay phones and calling cards ... You have to be a bit optimistic to think it will work.