
Dan Coats Just Confirmed He Signed the Section 702 Certificate without Even Reading the Accompanying Memo
Today, the Senate Intelligence Committee had a hearing on Section 702 of FISA. It basically went something like this:
It's okay that we have a massive dragnet because the men running it are very honorable and diligent.
The men running the…

Trump FBI Nominee Christopher Wray Gave Inappropriate Briefings to John Ashcroft During Plame Investigation
Donald Trump just nominated someone who, in 2003, gave John Ashcroft inappropriate briefings about an investigation into his friends to be FBI Director.

If We Have to Have FISA, Can We at Least Not Give It to Contractors?
If we had fewer contractors working in intelligence, we might have fewer leaks.

It Is False that Downstream 702 Collection Consists Only of To and From Communications
We need to stop thinking of PRISM as the collection of communications.

Putin Starts Talking about Hackers' Art in Advance of Yevgeniy Nikulin Extradition
Vladimir Putin's new story on any Russian involvement in the DNC hack may relate to a recent hearing in the American request for Yevgeniy Nikulin's extradition from Prague.

Why Did Shadow Brokers Switch Crypto Currencies to Not Make Money With?
The other day, Shadow Brokers announced its new Warez of the month club: Send 100 Zcash, over the next 30 days, and they'll send back ... goodies that have yet to be described.
Zcash is, like Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency, but with a whole lot…

Two Data Points on Jared Kushner
What is the real basis for any mutual loyalty between Trump and Kushner?
![[Photo: National Security Agency, Ft. Meade, MD via Wikimedia]](https://empty.runengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/NationalSecurityAgency_HQ-FortMeadeMD_Wikimedia-495x400.jpg)
The Problems with Rosemary Collyer's Shitty Upstream 702 Opinion
This post took a great deal of time, both in this go-around, and over the years to read all of these opinions carefully. Please consider donating to support this work.
It often surprises people when I tell them this, but in general, I've…

Stamped From the Beginning by Ibram Kendi
I’m on the road, which is great for reading, but not so much for writing. I just finished Ibram X. Kendi’s Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. It won the National Book Award for 2016. The citation…

What Would Jared Kushner's Middle East Peace Look Like?
Let's take the Kushner defenders at their word about wanting a back channel with Russia to plan Syria policy. What would that look like? And how many other back channels would that entail?

Zbig's Blowback Outlives Him
38 years ago, Zbig Brzezinski launched the covert operation that would end up training the jihadist warriors that would one day attack the United States. Officially, the blowback from that decision has outlived the man.

The Anonymous Letter to WaPo
Did the CIA send the letter to Ellen Nakashima about the contents of a Jared Kushner meeting?

From Long Island and Maryland with Love

Angry Mom: Hauling out the Time-Out Chair
I just want to march some overgrown children toward the time-out chair. (An open thread while we wait for MT election results.)

Sheldon Whitehouse and the Russia Investigation Deconfliction
Sheldon Whitehouse wants to know where Robert Mueller's investigation is headed to make sure Congress doesn't screw anything up. I trust him with that review more than I do Mark Warner.

Even (Especially?) the FBI Is Susceptible to Fake News
It's one thing for ordinary people not to be able to sort through conspiracies in fake news. But apparently the FBI can't either.

WannaCry Attribution: Missing the Sarcasm Tag
Security firms are scrambling to make a case that Lazarus, believed to be associated with North Korea, is behind the WannaCry attack, with some humorous outcomes.

John Brennan Denies a Special Harry Reid Briefing
John Brennan implicitly denied some claims about a special briefing he made in the NYT.

The Right to Bear Drones
The government wants a carve out in hacking and surveillance law so it can disable drones over any of a number of facilities and operations.

Did Pompeo Also Get an Obstruction Call from Trump?
If Trump called Mike Rogers and Dan Coats to ask for a denial his campaign colluded with Russia, is there any chance he didn't also call Mike Pompeo?
