Shorter DNI Rationalization: "What's a Little Lying Among Colleagues?"

That's pretty much what Director Clapper said, when he confessed that he lied as little as possible to Congress. His rationalization has a lot of the flavor of "it depends what your definition of 'is' is" to it. Go read the exchange from March in light of the current revelations and then ask how that answer can be anything other than a bald-faced lie.

Of what good is Congressional oversight if the people who run the program are lying?

Note also that Verizon wasn't going to push back against the search order because their security chief is a former FBI bigwig.