Director of National Intelligence James Clapper didn’t intend to lie to Congress, his office’s General Counsel Robert Litt said Friday evening. Litt wrote a letter to The New York Times, also posted to ODNI’s Tumblr page (http://bit.ly/1a1tIHA), responding to the paper’s recent editorial on ex-National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. Clapper had told Congress earlier this year that the U.S. government didn’t collect content on Americans at large, which many have said was a lie, given revelations since then about the government’s bulk metadata collection program. During a hearing, Clapper “was surprised by the question and focused his mind on the collection of the content of Americans’ communications,” Litt said. “In that context, his answer was and is accurate. When we pointed out Mr. Clapper’s mistake to him, he was surprised and distressed.” The record could not be corrected due to how classified the program was, Litt said. “This incident shows the difficulty of discussing classified information in an unclassified setting and the danger of inferring a person’s state of mind from extemporaneous answers given under pressure.”

The yet-to-be-introduced Cybersecurity Recruitment and Retention Act “aims to give [the Department of Homeland Security] hiring and retention authorities for cybersecurity professionals that are comparable to the ones allowed to the Department of Defense so that DHS can strengthen its workforce and more effectively carry out its cybersecurity mission,” a Senate Homeland Security Committee aide told us. The committee postponed a planned Dec. 18 markup of the bill and has not set a new timeline for action on the measure (CD Jan 6 p2). Committee Chairman Tom Carper, D-Del., and ranking member Tom Coburn, R-Okla., “hope to move a bipartisan measure, including legislation to enhance the ability of DHS to recruit and retain the cyber workforce it needs to protect the department and our nation, in the new year,” the committee aide said.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will host all five members of President Barack Obama’s surveillance review group for a hearing Jan. 14 at 2:30 p.m. in 226 Dirksen, the committee said in a notice Friday (http://1.usa.gov/1cqV1ya). Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., had previously said he would hold such a hearing that day but had not provided details. The five members of the group are Richard Clarke, Michael Morell, Geoffrey Stone, Cass Sunstein and Peter Swire. The White House released the group’s surveillance recommendations, amounting to more than 300 pages and widely perceived as more aggressive than expected, in mid-December. Obama has said he will publicly weigh in on these recommendations in January.

One lawmaker wants to know if the National Security Agency is spying on Congress. “Has the NSA spied, or is the NSA currently spying, on members of Congress or other elected officials?” Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., asked NSA Director Keith Alexander in a letter Friday (http://1.usa.gov/1kh3NFR). He specified that spying includes metadata collected from official or personal phone calls, and content pulled from emails and websites visited. The recent revelations about NSA surveillance have uncovered “clearly unconstitutional” actions, Sanders said, saying he was disturbed to learn details of the practices and of the U.S. government’s surveillance of foreign leaders.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., demanded an end to sports blackouts, pointing to three games that recently faced the threat of blackout. “As a result of the NFL’s arcane blackout rules, thousands of Colts, Packers, and Bengals fans had no idea whether they would be able to see their home team play just hours before the playoffs kicked off,” Blumenthal said Friday in a statement, calling the uncertainty unacceptable and unfair. “The threat of a blackout is itself both injury and insult. The NFL and other sports leagues that enforce blackout policies should not be rewarded with special regulatory status, antitrust exemptions, and taxpayer subsidies.” Congress should back the Fans Act, which he introduced with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Blumenthal said. Rep. Brian Higgins, D-N.Y., who introduced companion legislation in the House, also on Friday slammed sports blackouts. He asked colleagues to co-sponsor the bill earlier this week. “Recently the Federal Communications Commission announced plans to repeal federal policies that support sports blackouts calling the rules ‘Obsolete’ and ‘No Longer Necessary,'” Higgins said (http://1.usa.gov/1bE6hni). “With the clock ticking, it is apparent now more than ever that it is the time for an NFL to follow suit and once-and-for all turnover forced blackouts on fans."

NTCA has its eye on Congress in 2014, CEO Shirley Bloomfield said in two blog posts this week. “For Congress, I see a renewed strategic approach, given the current issues on the table, pending elections and a possible rewrite of the Communications Act,” she said in one post (http://bit.ly/1g3S9rZ). “It is likely time to move from our grassroots Swing State strategy to a renewed Farm Team effort, giving me deja vu thinking back on hundreds of hours I spent with the ‘Farm Team’ in the early 80s leading up to the 1996 Telecom Act Rewrite (did I just date myself?), and a renewed effort with members to understand the importance of TECO,” its political action committee, the Telecommunications Education Committee Organization. In another post (http://bit.ly/1lD30uf), Bloomfield described receiving a card from House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. The note thanked NTCA for backing HR-3719, the Video Choice Act, which Eshoo had introduced in December. “She expressed her hopes for a vibrant video marketplace in the future -- one where there is healthy competition, consumer choice and basic protections for consumers and one that adapts to a 21st century video reality,” Bloomfield said. “We hope for the very same thing, and that also includes dealing with retransmission consent agreements and real efforts to ensure affordable access to programming.” More than 80 percent of NTCA’s membership has “some video interests,” Bloomfield said.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, blasted the ongoing sports blackout rule despite having praised a recent FCC vote on the topic. “While the FCC’s recent unanimous vote to eliminate the Sports Blackout Rule is excellent news for fans and taxpayers across Ohio and across the country, the NFL should do everything it can to ensure” that the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday playoff game “is not blacked out,” Brown said in a statement Thursday (http://1.usa.gov/1iwR5AX). “This is unacceptable at a time when the price of attending games continues to rise and the economy is not yet where it needs to be. Fans, through local taxes, often help pay for the stadiums. They should be able to cheer on their local teams, especially during the playoffs.”

Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mark Pryor, D-Ark., is scheduled to address the state regulators of NARUC in February, according to a preliminary agenda. NARUC’s winter meeting will be in Washington Feb. 9-12. Few major speakers or panels have been announced, with some conference days entirely unfilled, but the NARUC agenda shows Pryor scheduled to speak at a Feb. 11 general session starting at 8:30 a.m. in the Renaissance Washington Hotel. Registration for the meeting opened in mid-December.

As 2013 ends, AT&T leads among telecom and media companies in campaign donations in the 2014 midterm election cycle, according to data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics. The telco had contributed $1.29 million as of Saturday’s FEC data, the ninth highest total of any entity, according to the center’s charting, with 66 percent of the money going to Republicans. Comcast ranked No. 16 with donations of $1.07 million, evenly split by party. Verizon Communications ranked 35th with donations of $781,461, 56 percent of which went to Republicans. The Communications Workers of America followed closely after, its donations of $747,750 ranking 39th. Of CWA donations, 97 percent went to Democrats. NCTA ranked No. 100 and gave $428,000, roughly split by party. Among those donating lesser amounts, NAB gave $349,100, Cox Enterprises $337,550, Dish $329,445, Time Warner Cable $315,999 and CenturyLink $283,450. Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mark Pryor, D-Ark., raised the eighth highest amount of money for any 2014 Senate incumbent, at $4.2 million as of Monday FEC reports. He faces a tough race in 2014, and the center’s data show it’s one of the most expensive races in the country. In the Arkansas Senate race, candidates have raised $7.49 million and spent $3.4 million, as of Monday. The communications and electronics industry has collectively donated about $24.46 million in this cycle, 59 percent of that going to Democrats. Top recipients include, in order from largest donations, Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., Ed Markey, D-Mass., Mark Pryor, D-Ark., House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio. Both Booker and Markey won special elections for their Senate seats in 2013.

U.S. Cellular is open to new technologies that may help prevent theft of smartphones and has not rejected any “kill switch” proposal, it said. A spokeswoman for the company confirmed Monday it received a letter from Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., sent earlier that day (CD Dec 31 p3). The letter pressed U.S. Cellular and other carriers on whether they had received any kill switch proposals from manufacturers and how they were working to prevent smartphone theft. “We are currently reviewing Sen. Klobuchar’s letter and will respond soon,” the spokeswoman told us. “U.S. Cellular has not rejected a ‘kill switch’ proposal from Samsung and, despite reports to the contrary, Samsung has never made such a proposal to U.S. Cellular, nor asked for our views or our permission on whether to include one in their devices. As new technologies become available, we will give them prompt consideration in determining their utility in preventing smartphone theft, as safety of our customers is of paramount importance to us.” Klobuchar wanted responses from the companies by Jan. 9. With questions arising about stolen cellphones, the FCC Tuesday reminded consumers in an agency tweet that they can contact their carrier if their device is stolen. The tweet links to an FCC page on carrier contact information (http://fcc.us/19zJ3Vb).