January 14, 2014 = FBI Won't Seek Charges in IRS Targeting of Conservative Groups

Jan 17, 2014 : Obama to Call for Curbs on NSA Phone Spying But Leave Bulk Data in Gov’t Hands for Now

Study: NSA Bulk Phone Data Has “No Discernible Impact” on Stopping Terrorism

Jan 17, 2014: Report: NSA Collects Millions of Text Messages Each Day

Jan 17, 2014: The Guardian–Obama speech on the NSA: • Obama proposed reforms for how the government uses data it collects on foreigners; the declassification of more Fisa court documents; new rules for the storage and use of information on US citizens collected "incidentally"; and greater transparency for national security letters.

The Guardian - Obama Speech on NSA in response to Snowden leaks: Obama said he would end the bulk collection of domestic phone records "as it currently exists," by restricting analysts' searches of the database and by moving the database into the hands of telecom companies or a third party TBD – the details are not yet nailed down.

• The president said he had asked the attorney general and the intelligence community to report to him by 28 March on how to handle the phone records database question. Obama also asked Congress to begin work to select a panel of public advocates to sit in on the Fisa court process in certain cases.

Jan 17, 2014 - The Guardian Reports Obama Speech in Response to Snowden Leaks:

In a speech at the department of justice, President Barack Obama laid out reforms of NSA surveillance programs and their secret oversight court, saying that new technology and new times required revisiting the balance between national security protection and threats to individual liberty.

• Obama said he would end the bulk collection of domestic phone records "as it currently exists," by restricting analysts' searches of the database and by moving the database into the hands of telecom companies or a third party TBD – the details are not yet nailed down.

• The president said he had asked the attorney general and the intelligence community to report to him by 28 March on how to handle the phone records database question. Obama also asked Congress to begin work to select a panel of public advocates to sit in on the Fisa court process in certain cases.

• Obama proposed reforms for how the government uses data it collects on foreigners; the declassification of more Fisa court documents; new rules for the storage and use of information on US citizens collected "incidentally"; and greater transparency for national security letters.

• Senior officials in the intelligence community welcomed the speech. Director of national intelligence James Clapper called it "measured and thoughtful." Many privacy advocates said the speech sounded good but was short on details and its import was yet to be seen.

• It appeared that Congress would have to act before most of the policies Obama described could be implemented. Separately, the president said he had directed the attorney general "to work with the [Fisa court]" to newly require a judicial order each time analysts the phone database.

• Obama did not state an intention to ban the NSA from sabotaging global encryption standards and otherwise undermining encryption, but the White House said it was studying such a ban, Foreign Policy reported.

• The president presented the actions of Edward Snowden as coinciding with his own long evolution of thinking on government surveillance. A debate employing "crude characterizations" has played out after "sensational" coverage of the Snowden revelations, Obama said.