A series of redacted emails and other documents obtained by the Associated Press shows that contrary to the assertions of the White House, intelligence officials had knowledge beforehand of British intelligence officials' efforts to destroy data in the possession of the UK newspaper The Guardian. The emails show that former National Security Agency director Gen. Kenneth Alexander was briefed on the plans days before GCHQ analysts oversaw the destruction of a laptop at The Guardian's offices in London.
On July 19, 2013, as British officials were stepping up pressure on The Guardian to turn over the data—including threats of a police raid and prosecution under the UK's Official Secrets Act—Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger consented to the destruction of the data and the laptop it was stored on rather than turning the data itself over to GCHQ. The documents obtained by the Associated Press from the NSA under the Freedom of Information Act show thatRichard Ledgett, then director of NSA's Threat Operations Center and a member of NSA's "Media Leaks Task Force," sent an email within hours of Rusbriger's assent to the destruction to Gen. Alexander entitled, "Guardian data being destroyed." "Good news, at least on this front," Ledgett wrote, forwarding an email from a redacted source. Alexander forwarded the news to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper—"Jim- Here is the report I got."
On July 20, a few hours after the destruction of the Guardian laptop was complete, Clapper was verbally briefed by Gen. Alexander on the destruction. He sent a thank-you email to Alexander for the "conversation" as a reply to the original email thread.
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