2,776

Barton Gellman for the Washington Post: "NSA broke privacy rules thousands of times per year, audit finds." 2,776 times, to be exact.

The National Security Agency has broken privacy rules or overstepped its legal authority thousands of times each year since Congress granted the agency broad new powers in 2008, according to an internal audit and other top-secret documents.

Most of the infractions involve unauthorized surveillance of Americans or foreign intelligence targets in the United States, both of which are restricted by statute and executive order. They range from significant violations of law to typographical errors that resulted in unintended interception of U.S. e-mails and telephone calls.

Whoooooooooooops.

So much for that whole "None of the revelations show that government has actually abused these powers" thing, eh, Mr. President?

Go see Digby for more.