They are hurting for talent. Each instance of high-profile bad press makes it harder for them to replace their aging workforce and makes companies more reluctan

They are hurting for talent. Each instance of high-profile bad press makes it harder for them to replace their aging workforce and makes companies more reluctant to give them any data or research assistance. Beyond that, they've had a huge brain drain in recent years with their talent being hired away by the private sector. Which also means you should be wary about who gets hired at Amazon/Google/Microsoft/Apple/Hurricane Electric. Last I heard a supervisor from the NSA who was in charge of some team dedicated to breaking cryptography in the early 2000's had since been hired by Amazon to lead cryptographic implementation at AWS. Could be fine. Could be beneficial for Amazon's cryptographic security. But I know I'd be worried on what her reaction would be if the NSA came to her privately and asked for her to make a change at AWS that makes it easier for the NSA to exploit. As for them lying....you have to look at incentives. Spies lie for a reason. They twist words, they lie by omission, they attack peoples' character, they claim their push for changes in the name of public safety is more important than freedoms. They don't lie just for the sake of lying. Lying is not its own reward.