President Barack Obama nominated James Comey today to be the new director of the FBI. Comey was the deputy attorney general for President George W. Bush, and in that role signed off on the Administration’s warrantless wiretapping program. If confirmed, he would lead another federal agency accused of illegal surveillance practices. The announcement comes amid new revelations about the US government’s spying powers, including documents leaked to the Guardian that show the government does at times collect domestic US communications without a warrant.

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