The Washington Post's Barton Gellman and Greg Miller published a new report Thursday revealing the U.S. government's "black budget," a 178-page document showing that 16 spy agencies have received $52.6 billion in funding. The document came from former-NSA-contractor-turned-fugitive Edward Snowden, and outlines the technology and methods that intelligence agencies are currently using. 

 

The "black budget" does not include the $23 billion in funding received by military intelligence groups. Based on experts' estimates, the report says that the current amount of intelligence and espionage spending by the government "rivals or exceeds" the amount spent at the height of the Cold War, which is estimated to have reached as high as $71 billion in today's dollars.

 

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The CIA has received 28 percent of the total funding, requesting $14.7 billion for the 2013. That is over $4 billion more than the NSA's projected funding and far exceeds the amount many experts have estimated in recent years. In total, more than $500 billion has been spent on intelligence since the September 11 attacks, the current budget is approximately double the size of the 2001 budget and 25 percent higher than 2006 budget.

 

Also included in the budget are descriptions of counterintelligence operations against China, Russia, Iran, Cuba, and Israel. Despite these plans, the budget lists several "critical" gaps in intelligence concerning North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, and nothing is known about the intentions of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

Read more on the NSA here.

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