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The Gang of Eight is a colloquial term for a set of eight leaders within the United States Congress who are briefed on classified intelligence matters by the executive branch. Specifically, the Gang of Eight includes the leaders of each of the two parties from both the Senate and House of Representatives, and the chairs and ranking minority members of both the Senate Committee and House Committee for intelligence as set forth by . The President of the United States is required by to "ensure that the congressional intelligence committees are kept fully and currently informed of the intelligence activities of the United States." However, under , the President may elect to report instead to the Gang of Eight under "extraordinary circumstances", when he thinks "it is essential to limit access" to information about a covert action. The individuals are sworn to secrecy and there is no vote process. In the spring of 2013, the intelligence "Gang of Eight" was often confused with the Gang of Eight (immigration). ==Background== The term "Gang of Eight" gained wide currency in the coverage of the Bush administration's NSA warrantless surveillance controversy, in the context that no members of Congress other than the Gang of Eight were informed of the program, and they were forbidden to disseminate knowledge of the program to other members of Congress. The Bush administration has asserted that the briefings delivered to the Gang of Eight sufficed to provide Congressional oversight of the program and preserve the checks and balances between the executive and legislative branches.〔(President's Memorandum Limiting Executive Agency Disclosures to Congress ), October 05, 2001, FAS〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gang of Eight (intelligence)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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