re: #32 Charles Johnson

He didn’t admit illegal activity at all. He said it was “accidental.” This is not the same as deliberate law-breaking.

OK, I’ll take that point, that is indeed what he’s saying - that NSA operatives “accidentally” accessed information prohibited to them by law.
Ooops.

I’ll still maintain my larger point, which is the final para of my comment;

If Greenwald had made a statement like the one Chambliss is reported here as saying, essentially admitting illegal activity in the past but now claiming those “bad old days” are over, a lot of folks around here would be howling with derision.

(Note that Chambliss is using the word “abuse” in his actual quote. Is that a word you would choose to describe something “accidental”?)