So, having told everyone that he wasn't briefed about the Kim Dotcom spying fiasco until September, it now turns out that John Key was told about it back in February:
Key visited GCSB offices on 29 February for a briefing and to meet staff. A presentation contained a short reference to the Dotcom arrest in January ''as an example of cooperation between the GCSB and the Police.''
''The presentation was an electronic slide presentation. The cover slide was a montage of 11 small images, one of which was of Mr Dotcom,'' Key said.
No written record was kept of the meeting and he wasn't given a copy of the briefing.
Key says no reference was made to questions about residency status.
That whistling noise is the PM's credibility shrinking even further. His amnesia is just too convenient here to be believed
Meanwhile, it appears that the GCSB have cooperated with police at least 58 times in the last three years - almost 20 times a year. Which suggests either that police are using them to do an end-run around the legal limits on police surveillance, or that GCSB tap so many phone calls that they pick up evidence of a serious crime at least once a month. Either way, its too high, and it suggests that GCSB are abusing their powers. Someone needs to take a serious look at this, and impose some proper checks and balances on such cooperation. Sadly, the government just doesn't seem interested in doing so.
