That approach came with high costs. It cost human resources. We had to keep renewing FISA warrants, had to maintain and monitor electronic surveillance, had to keep translating what came off the surveillance, had to keep analyzing all the data. We weren’t even sure how to identify the point of diminishing returns. In the dance of collection and disruption, the art is sensing a delicate balance: the time when you’ve collected enough to understand the immediate threat—the subject you’re following or investigating—and also to understand the broader potential impact of that person and the person’s
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