It’s absurd to think al-Qaeda is using Gmail to plot their next attack, so why the dragnet?

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nations’ top intelligence official is declassifying three secret U.S. court opinions showing how the National Security Agency scooped up as many as 56,000 emails annually over three years and other communications by Americans with no connection to terrorism, how it revealed the error to the court and changed how it gathered Internet communications.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper authorized the release Wednesday.

The opinions show that when the NSA reported to the court in 2011 that it was inadvertently collecting as many as 56,000 Internet communications by Americans with no collection to terrorism, the court ordered the NSA to find ways to limit what it collects and how long it keeps it.

Update: This is the second time in three days Obama has stood by his obviously incorrect statement that the NSA wasn’t spying on Americans.

(The Hill) — President Obama stands by his assertion that “there is no spying on Americans” by the National Security Agency, the White House said Wednesday.

The comments from White House spokesman Josh Earnest follow a report that the NSA accessed about 75 percent of all U.S. Internet traffic through partnerships with some of the nation’s largest companies.

Earnest said the NSA’s efforts were a “narrowly focused program that is focused specifically at foreign intelligence.”

While domestic information was occasionally accessed, that amounted to “compliance issues” rather than systematic spying by the NSA.

He also said the president has taken “steps to address” privacy concerns and stressed that the programs were conducted by “national security professionals.”