Ever persistent, Wyden has returned with another set of questions [PDF] regarding NSA surveillance. This one pertains to the least-discussed surveillance authorization and the one almost everyone — including members of oversight committees — knows nearly nothing about: Executive Order 12333.

Like Section 702, there‘s a good probability intelligence gathered under this authority is being used by domestic agencies. Backdoor searches of NSA intel have been unofficial common knowledge for years now, so there‘s very little reason to believe the NSA‘s most mysterious authority doesn‘t have its own built-in peepholes for the FBI and other federal agencies.