"Everyday Americans" Are Increasingly Foreign Intelligence Now
[youtube]U-yLQPO_8E0[/youtube]
Yesterday, the Guardian revealed that the NSA is storing online metadata (including browsing information) for up to a year.
The National Security Agency is storing the online metadata of millions of internet…
Failed Marine Corps Commandant Amos Calls for Consequences for Failed Leadership (for Others)
I have long maintained that part of the reason why Afghanistan has been such a doomed mission is that high ranking military figures have faced zero consequences for their failed leadership. As just one example, John Allen faced no punishment…
Could an Independent NSA Inspector General Have Prevented 3 Years of Violations?
Last week, two former Senate Intelligence Committee members proposed a fix for the NSA no one has yet floated: making NSA's Inspector General independent. Doing so, they argue, would give the IG more leeway to direct her investigations of the…
Thanks for Keeping Us Independent
I've been remiss.
I had plans to send out a thank you note to all the people who donated during our fundraiser. But then a family issue came up and I haven't gotten it done yet.
Nevertheless, this piece of news made me realize I need to…
Syrian Government Off to Good Start With OPCW, But Why Is Peace Conference Six Weeks Away?
The Washington Post reports this morning that the Syrian government has been "businesslike and efficient" in its dealings with the OPCW and that things are on track for representatives from the OPCW to be inside Syria tomorrow to start working…
Our Yemeni "Allies" Did More Damage than Edward Snowden
The NYT reports that some counterterrorism analysts think the reports of the Ayman al-Zawahiri call with Nasir al-Wuhayshi have done more damage to our SIGINT collections than all of Edward Snowden's leaking.
As the nation’s spy agencies…
Badly Broken: We Are Walter White
I’ll bet tonight’s blog traffic will drop sharply, and explode on Twitter — and at 9:00 p.m. EDT exactly. That’s when the last episode of AMC’s Breaking Bad will air, following a 61-hour marathon of all preceding episodes from the…
The People Who Work at Arthur Anderson NSA Are Such Nice People
[youtube]uF40mZbrd7I[/youtube]
Back in 2001 or early 2002, I sat next to a lifetime Arthur Anderson accountant on a long plane ride. We talked about the Enron debacle and its ties to Anderson. She hadn't worked the Enron account, and she…
Another Reason David Barron Should Not Get a Lifetime Appointment without Further Disclosure
The other day I noted that President Obama had nominated David Barron to a lifetime appointment on the First Circuit even while his government was stonewalling the release under FOIA of Barron's OLC memo authorizing the due process-free execution…
Bill Binney Told You So
Remember when Bill Binney said NSA was compiling dossiers of Americans, but Keith Alexander said that wasn't true?
A former NSA official has accused the NSA’s director of deception during a speech he gave at the DefCon hacker conference on…
Real Deal Exit the Sandman and Mom Rock and Roll Trash Talk
Errr, some of you may have seen some illegitimate Trash Talk on a so called "Stub". Illegitimate stuff. Please disregard the same. It was perpetrated by a "perp" that thinks Tom Brady Porn is teh awesomenest. Not sure that last word is really…
A Stub for Trash Talk
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/9ufwukWgKfI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
This is actually just a stub for trash talk that I expect (hope?) bmaz (and if not bmaz, then…
"Whoa Whoa Whoa, Stop!" Dianne Feinstein Misstates the 2011 Violations
One of the most enlightening aspects of yesterday's Senate Intelligence Hearing on FISA came when Dianne Feinstein tried to rebut witness Tim Edgar's categorization of the 2011 violations described in John Bates October 8, 2011 opinion. In her…
Ron Wyden's Past Provocative Hearing Question on Cell Site Location
As I've noted, yesterday Ron Wyden got Keith Alexander to refuse to answer a question about whether the NSA has ever collected or made plans to collect Americans' cell-site information in bulk.
Wyden: Senators Udall, Heinrich and I and about…
US, Russia Agree on Syria Plan; UN Security Council Vote Could Come Later Today
In a continuation of Barack Obama's pivot to diplomacy, it appears that the US and Russia, along with several other UN Security Council members, have come to an agreement on how to structure the UNSC resolution on the surrender and destruction…
Ron Wyden's What's-Old-Is-New Question: Reverse Targeting
When you track Ron Wyden's persistent attempts to squeeze answers out of National Security officials, you grow familiar with the rhythm of questions. Drone memos -- Article II or AUMF, he asked for years before getting a still-secret answer.…
Half the LOVEINT Violations Committed by Non-NSA Employees
Chuck Grassley just released a summary of violations of NSA authority he requested back in August.
The data is pretty meaningless. As I have shown, NSA's own internal reporting shows about 9% (and up to 20% in some categories) of its…
Did OLC Rule Americans Have Voluntarily Allowed NSA to Collect Their Communications Domestically?
Some weeks ago, I waded into a discussion between Charlie Savage and Ben Wittes to suggest that a still-secret OLC opinion Ron Wyden mentioned back in January might serve as the basis for collecting US person communications at the phone switches.
In…
Dianne Feinstein Gives NSA Apologist Ben Wittes More "Oversight" Time than Ron Wyden
The Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on NSA changes just finished.
It was about what you'd expect: Dianne Feinstein and Saxby Chambliss claimed they were making changes that don't amount to much, at least four Senators filibustered themselves…
The Kiddie Porn and the UndieBomb
I was at a funeral Monday and Tuesday. So when I heard the FBI had busted the guy who leaked the UndieBomb 2.0 story, I assumed they had finally arrested John Brennan.
But, as bmaz emphasized in his post on Donald Sachtleben's plea agreement,…