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The [Publicly] Unanswered John Bates Question about How You Define an Active User of a Targeted Facility

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emptywheel
It turns out John Bates had the same questions about how an "active user" gets defined for upstream surveillance. But we don't know what kind of answers he got to those questions.
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In 2010, the Government Tried to Use Section 702 against US Persons

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emptywheel
Back in 2010, the government asked to use Section 702 against US persons. The FISA Court backed them down off that request. Then, six months later, the government admitted it had been collecting US person communications all along.
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The Outdated XP Testimony on WannaCry to Congress

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emptywheel
Why are witnesses to Congress suggesting that Windows' most outdated systems were the biggest victims of WannaCry?
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Theory and the Left

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Ed Walker
Is theory valuable in actual practice?
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A Touch To Much Of DOJ Politicization: Rosenstein Above Brand

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bmaz
I have been somewhat beyond stunned at the Emm Ess Emm rich to yammer and bloviate about the necessity of Rod Rosenstein to "recuse" because he is "conflicted". It is a stupid load of nonsense. First off, the discussion appears to be lead…
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Wyden to Coats: Admit You Know NSA Is Collecting Domestic Communications under 702

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emptywheel
Ron Wyden is trying to get Dan Coats to admit that he knows the government is collecting domestic communications under Section 702.
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Garden of Fallen Leaders

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Ed Walker
What should we do with the monuments to those who fought for and led the Confederacy/
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How Did Reality Winner Know to Look for the Russian Hack Document?

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emptywheel
Reality Winner appears to have known the Russian hacking document was there. Did she learn about it from chatter among colleagues?
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The Sources for Some Russian Voting Hack Stories Will Not Be Prosecuted

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emptywheel
Any bets that the sources for the (critically important) Bloomberg story on Russians hacking the voting infrastructure of 39 states won't even be investigated.
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Privacy Community Lets Dan Coats Off Easy in Letter Accusing Him of Reneging on His Promise

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emptywheel
The privacy community doesn't seem to understand why the government keeps claiming it can't count how many Americans get sucked up in Section 702.
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Which Was a More Sensitive Open Secret Revealed as a Result of the Reality Winner Story: Details on Russian Hacks of Voting Equipment, or Invisible Printer Dots?

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emptywheel
I'm betting that the government is far more grumpy that the Reality Winner prosecution has alerted far more people to the invisible dots that can identify the printer from which a document gets printed than they are about the document Reality Winner leaked to The Intercept on Russian attempts to hack voting equipment companies.
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Reality Winner Appears to Have Already Leaked "Documents" Plural

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emptywheel
It appears Reality Winner has already leaked documents, plural. So I'm skeptical the government really thinks she has more documents to leak.
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Who Would Have Told Trump to Go Back to Demand a Patronage Relationship with Comey?

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emptywheel
In his testimony, Jim Comey suggested someone may have told Trump to go make demands on Jim Comey the day after the White House first learned Mike Flynn was in trouble.
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The Dialectical Imagination by Martin Jay

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Ed Walker
The left lacks a cogent theory framework for its policy choices. The Democrats don't even have an incoherent theory. Perhaps Critical Theory is a good approach. The Dialectical Imagination by Martin Jay is a good starting point for learning about Critical Theory.
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Vladimir Putin Places a Bet in the Cryptocurrency Shadow Brokers Isn't Using

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emptywheel
Somehow Shadow Brokers keeps using all the cryptocurrencies that Vladimir Putin isn't banking on.
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Sessions Recusal: Election And/Or Russia?

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emptywheel
Jim Comey thinks that as soon as February 14, it was clear that Jeff Sessions had to recuse from Russian related issues. Instead (all the evidence suggests) he recused only from election related issues. 
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What a Difference a Day Makes to the Privileges of a King

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emptywheel
Trump lawyer Marc Kasowitz' rebuttal to Comey's testimony is, on its face, deeply flawed, especially with its attack on Comey for leaking privileged memos. But it's all the more problematic when you compare it to what Mike Rogers and Dan Coats did yesterday.
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Comey and Friends Expected Jeff Sessions to Recuse by February 14

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emptywheel
It apparently took Jeff Sessions at least 16 days from the time FBI expected him to recuse before he did so. Did he talk to Trump about potential recusal in the interim?
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Lurking Jared

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emptywheel
Jim Comey describes Jared Kushner as making pleasantries before Trump first pressured Comey about Flynn.
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