Scott interviews Patrick Eddington about the surveillance of U.S. citizens and the legislation that allows it. Although the USA Freedom Act ostensibly rolls back the NSA’s metadata program, it really only tweaks a technicality of whom the organization allowed to spy on, and has done nothing to limit the overall amount of data collected. Similar efforts to curtail the surveillance apparatus have met with concerns of increased terrorism. But Eddington reminds us that there’s never been a single proven case where electronic surveillance prevented an attack, so these programs do nothing but infringe on our liberty.

Discussed on the show:

• “The Snowden Effect, Six Years On” (Cato Institute)
• USA Freedom Act
• “Executive Orders” (National Archives)
• “PATRIOT Act” (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
• “Declassified Report Shows Doubts About Value of N.S.A.’s Warrantless Spying” (The New York Times)

Patrick Eddington is a research fellow at the Cato Institute, an ex-CIA analyst, and a former senior staffer in the House of Representatives. Follow him on Twitter @PGEddington.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

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