NSA Director Claims Surveillance Programs Foiled 50 Plots

General Keith Alexander, the director of the National Security Agency, claimed before the House Intelligence Committee that the government’s much-criticized surveillance of Americans have stopped almost 50 terrorist plots worldwide, including one which targeted the New York Stock Exchange.

Sean Joyce, deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, testified that the NSA identified an individual in Kansas City, Missouri, who was communicating with someone in Yemen about attacking the stock exchange. 

Joyce also revealed that in 2007, a terrorist financier was arrested through use of the surveillance program.

Alexander said that the intelligence community would soon reveal more about the roughly 50 plots they have foiled. He said they would also provide the numbers for how many threats were allegedly prevented in Europe.