Mike Rogers: IRS Scandal Is Real, NSA Scandal Is Not; AP Collection Is a Dragnet, Section 215 Collection Is Not
One of the four members of Congress with greatest influence over this country's "intelligence," House Intelligence Chair Mike Rogers, claims that the IRS scandal is real and the risk of NSA dragnet is not.
Rogers said Amash's amendment, which…
"Section 215 Is Silent"
Justin Amash has a useful fact sheet on the Amash-Conyers amendment that would defund dragnet 215 collection. (If you haven't yet called your Congressperson and told her to support the amendment, please do so!)
As a whole, the fact sheet…
CIA Death Squads in Afghanistan to Have Fewer Bases
Greg Miller reports in the Washington Post that the CIA will be closing several bases in Afghanistan as US military forces are withdrawn from the country. I've been obsessing lately about US death squads operated primarily by the CIA but also…
The Liars Are "Very Concerned" Program They Lied About Will Be Defunded
Buried at the bottom of a broader story on opposition to the Amash-Conyers amendment, CNN offers a very solicitous account of the White House statement opposing it, making no note of how absurd the entire premise is.
The White House issued…
After 7 Years of Refusing Any Public Debate, Executive Decries Congress for Not Being "Open"
Here's what the Administration thinks about the Amash-Conyers amendment (which it calls the Amash Amendment, perhaps not wanting to name a Democrat who has been involved in historic fights against out-of-control executive power in the past),…
Working Post on Government Motion in Moalin Prosecution
As I described in this post, the government's opposition motion to Basaaly Saeed Moalin's challenge to the FISA intercepts used to convict him is a doozy. I showed there how complex the collections used to convict him were (and presumably still…
Of Course the NSA Can't Search Its Own Emails...
Justin Elliott reports that when he tried to FOIA emails between National Geographic and the NSA, the world's premier digital spying agency said they couldn't search their own emails.
"There's no central method to search an email at this time…
Will Keith Alexander FINALLY Tell the Full Truth about the Section 215 Dragnet in Today's Secret Emergency Hearing?
Since Edward Snowden made it clear the government has been collecting every American's phone records in the name of terrorism (and Iran), the National Security establishment has made a great show of transparency.
Don't worry it's "just" metadata,…
Dempsey Photo-Op With Karzai Illustrates Futility of SOFA Negotiations
As the Afghanistan disaster careens closer to the late 2014 end of the NATO mission, the US continues to embarrass itself while it perpetuates the charade of trying to negotiate terms for US forces to remain in Afghanistan beyond 2014. On…
Study Shows Cybertheft Really Isn't the Greatest Transfer of Wealth in History
I've long mocked the claim -- often wielded by people like Sheldon Whitehouse and Keith Alexander -- that cybertheft is the greatest transfer of wealth in history. Sure, cybertheft might be big. But bigger than colonization? Bigger than slavery?
But…
Did the Government Change When -- and How -- It Minimized US Person Collections Since 2008?
I've been digging through the weeds of the government's response to Basaaly Saeed Moalin's challenge of the FISA materials used in his trial. As a reminder, this is one of just two examples of a case where the government has admitted to using…
NSA's PRISM and the Oddity of PalTalk
Remember this presentation slide on PRISM from last month’s blockbuster report by the Guardian-UK?
Remember the one outlier right smack in the middle of the slide — the company name most folks don’t recognize?
PalTalk.
Very few…
Superheroes and Monsters: The Truth in Today's Blockbusters
For a change of pace, let’s talk about superheroes.
Like Superman. Batman. Iron Man. The Avengers. Spider-man.
We've been inundated with superheroes at the box office for the last several years. We eat them up, based on box office ticket…
Eblouissante Goes Up To Saratoga
Well, it is not exactly a hot sports weekend, F1 is off until next weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix and the NFL preseason will have to wait for two more weeks when the Cowboys and Dolphins open up with the NFL Hall of Fame Game. But fear not lugnuts,…
Fourth Circuit Guts National Security Investigative Journalism Everywhere It Matters
The Fourth Circuit -- which covers CIA, JSOC, and NSA's territory -- just ruled that journalists who are witnesses to alleged crimes (or participants, the opinion ominously notes) must testify in the trial.
There is no First Amendment testimonial…
The Shell Game: What is Microsoft Doing?
What is this so-called tech company doing?
Microsoft sees itself as going head-to-head with Apple and Google. The 10-year chart above comparing Microsoft, Apple, and Google stock tells us this has been a delusional perception.
It also…
DOJ's News Media Policies Reserved the Authority to Force James Risen to Testify
James Risen's lawyer, Joel Kurtzberg, argues that the News Media Policies released by DOJ last week mean his client should not have to testify in the Jeffrey Sterling case. (As I understand it, Michael Isikoff made a similar argument while moderating…
Did the FISA Court Approve the "Relevant To" Dragnet Collection before Congress Passed the PATRIOT Reauthorization?
I want to point to a passage of the 2008 DOJ IG Report on use of Section 215. I think it adds new details about how the government came to use Section 215 to spy on all of us.
On page 20, the report describes what it calls "combination Section…
Negative Manning Decision and the Future of Investigative Journalism
Little more than few hours ago, a critical ruling was handed down by Judge Denise Lind in the Bradley Manning UCMJ prosecution ongoing at Fort Meade. The decision was on based on this motion by the defense seeking dismissal of the "Aiding the…
Nasser al-Awlaki: "My Grandson Was Killed by His Own Government"
While the nation grieves over the senseless death of Trayvon Martin and the missed opportunity to hold his killer responsible for that death, there is another senseless death of an American teenager of color where an attempt is continuing,…