White House "Spy on Your Neighbor" Program May Be Illegal

August 5, 2009 by Joe La Rue

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You may be aware that the White House is asking individuals to report "disinformation" that is communicated in private conversations about Obamacare to the White House.  Their request may be illegal: The "encouragement to snitch on your neighbor" program may violate 5 U.S.C. § 552a. Meanwhile, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) has written a letter to the president asking him to either cease the program immediately, or else explain its purpose and how the data collected will be used.  Sen. Cornyn wrote in part,

I am not aware of any precedent for a president asking American citizens to report thier fellow citizens to the White House for pure political speech that is deemed "fishy" or otherwise inimical to the White House's political interests. ...

I can only imagine the level of justifiable outrage had your predecessor asked Americans to forward emails critical of his policies to the White House.  I suspect that you would have been leading the charge in condemning such a program---and I would have been at your side denouncing such heavy-handed government action.

We will continue to follow this story as it develops.

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