Was that testimony given to a closed session of either the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) or the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI)? Or was it a public hearing?
I would hope that the NSA wouldn't give out top secret information during public hearings. That would be fairly stupid.
edit: I see that the article explains this. Wyden knew the answer already because he's on the Senate intelligence committee. He just wanted to put Clapper on the record disavowing a program they both knew existed.
Quote:
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The exchange put Clapper in a difficult position. Wyden, a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, had been briefed on the NSA program, but publicly led Clapper in a line of questioning that would either require him to disavow knowledge of the program, or to answer truthfully, breaking the law by revealing classified information.
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I'm no fan of the NSA data collection, but that's a pretty slimy move.