Source: Law & Liberty
by Ralph L DeFalco III
“The debate about the proper function of intelligence in the US is as old as the nation. Several founding fathers, indeed, even patriarch George Washington, recognized the need for espionage to be kept secret from the Continental Congress — with all the attendant risks of abuse — to help win the war for independence. The debate then centered on whether the new country could free itself from sullying Old World intrigues and who would, or even should, oversee a secret apparatus for the new republic. Today, intelligence is a permanent fixture in the US government. Now the debate is about the appropriate scope and reach of national security intelligence on balance with the protection of American civil liberties. This is the ‘constant crisis’ in Jeffrey P. Rogg’s sweeping new book, The Spy and the State: The History of American Intelligence.” (06/04/25)