I remember often hearing pundits claim that "17 intelligence agencies had confirmed Russian meddling in the 2016 election"
Now, it turned out that "meddling" amounted to buying facebook ads. Not really a huge deal.
But more importantly, since you brought up the founders - what would they say about the fact that we apparently have at least 17 federal agencies dedicated to spying.
> Among other honorifics, George Washington—known as Agent 711 in the Culper Spy Ring—is often heralded as a great “spymaster,” and indeed, he was. Under Washington’s astute watch, several networks of spies operated in both close-knit circles and far-reaching societies.
> Washington recognized the need for an organized approach to espionage.
> The original Committee members—America's first foreign intelligence agency—were Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Johnson and subsequently included James Lovell, who became the Congress' expert on codes and ciphers and has been called the father of American cryptanalysis.
> On June 5, 1776, the Congress appointed John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Edward Rutledge, James Wilson, and Robert Livingston "to consider what is proper to be done with persons giving intelligence to the enemy or supplying them with provisions." They were charged with revising the Articles of War in regard to espionage directed against the American forces. The problem was an urgent one: Dr. Benjamin Church, chief physician of the Continental Army, had already been seized and imprisoned as a British agent, but there was no civilian espionage act, and George Washington thought the existing military law did not provide punishment severe enough to afford a deterrent.
Now, it turned out that "meddling" amounted to buying facebook ads. Not really a huge deal.
But more importantly, since you brought up the founders - what would they say about the fact that we apparently have at least 17 federal agencies dedicated to spying.