Hospital Hero Jack Goldsmith, the Destroyer of the Internet Dragnet, Authorized the Internet Dragnet
As I noted earlier, I think the re-release of Jack Goldsmith's May 6, 2004 OLC memo authorizing Stellar Wind is meant to warn Congress that the Executive does not believe it needs any Congressional authorization to spy on every American -- just…
Awlaki Really Seems to Have Been Drone-Killed Exclusively on Presidential Authority
Jason Leopold liberated another White Paper -- this one dated May 25, 2011 -- on drone killing.
Man. It's just like they kept throwing legal arguments against the wall in hopes that one saying "You can kill Americans with no due process"…
Last Dance for MI/ND and NFL Week 1 Trash Talk
There is a LOT going on this weekend in the sports of Trash department. It is pretty early for in depth analysis (not that my analysis is ever particularly deep, mind you), so think we will do an overview of all that is going on and a couple…
Executive Still Hiding Its Phone Dragnet Self-Authorization, While Making Sure We Know It Has It
Back in February, Ron Wyden got then acting OLC head Caroline Krass to admit that Jack Goldsmith's May 6, 2004 Stellar Wind authorization remained active. Although they could rely on it at any time, Krass suggested they weren't, because…
James Clapper, Bates-Stamp, and Gutting the FISA Advocate
As I noted the other day, in his letter purportedly "supporting" Patrick Leahy's USA Freedom Act, James Clapper had this to say about the special advocate amicus curiae position laid out by the law.
We note that, consistent with the President's…
Two Explanations for Confusion about US ISIS Members: Associational Claims and Watchlisting Procedures
Eli Lake has a piece trying to explain the big disparities between claimed numbers of Americans who have joined ISIS.
One might think that a government that secretly collected everyone’s cellphone records would be able to find out which…
ISIS Fearmongering Now Features Undeclared Syrian Toxins Changing Hands
Today's New York Times wants us to be very afraid because Samantha Power tells us that Syria may have failed to declare some of its chemical weapons (all declared category 1 materials have been destroyed) and those materials just might fall…
The Article 5 Cyber-Trap
The other day, I noted the dodginess of the evidence behind claims that Russia had launched a sophisticated cyberattack on JP Morgan. I suggested one reason people like Mike Rogers might be crying wolf was to support a plan to reimburse the…
Real NFL Trash Talk: Packers Fair and Square
Yo. How y'all doing out there? Yeah, yeah, trash talk has bee a bit thin for a while. And some "other" blogger at this site has been carping at me about that. I would say it was righteous carping...BUT no can do.
One of the first humans I…
Clapper's Claim that FBI Cannot Count Back Door Searches for Technical Reasons Probably Bullshit
I wanted to explain why I think it's such a big deal that James Clapper specifically highlighted the carve out for transparency reporting on FBI's back door searches in Leahy's version of Freedom Act's in his letter supporting the bill.
As…
Final Push for P5+1 Deal Begins Against Backdrop of US Working With Anti-Iran Groups
Very high level US diplomats, including William Burns and Wendy Sherman, are in Geneva for talks today and tomorrow (for the second time in a month) with an Iranian delegation headed by Abbas Araghchi, whose position in Iran's Foreign Ministry…
The Holder-Clapper Letter Ought to Make You Worry about Leahy's USA Freedom
As the press is reporting right now, James "Too Cute by Half" Clapper and Eric Holder have written Patrick Leahy a letter endorsing his version of the dragnet reform bill. Reports claim this shows that Clapper supports reform.
Consider me…
NATO Will Cry Through Their Party Without Guest of Honor
Remember that as recently as the beginning of last week, Hamid Karzai still clung to the illusion that yesterday was the date on which Afghanistan's new president would be sworn into office. Yesterday was a very important deadline because…
Lying Keith the Kapitalist
On Sunday I asked who was crying wolf -- JP Morgan itself, or Mike Rogers -- about the claimed JP Morgan attack that might not be a serious attack at all and had been attributed to Russia without yet proof of that.
So who should crawl out…
"What Else Haven't You Let Us Know?" 2nd Circuit Asks DOJ
Well into today's argument over ACLU v. Clapper, the ACLU's challenge to the government's phone dragnet, one of the judges -- Robert Sack -- pointed out the discussion we're having all stems from documents the government was forced to release…
The West's Ideological Vacuum
One point I tried to make in this post on George Orwell's fighting in Spain is that the fight between Bashar al-Assad and ISIS is one that has become an ideological magnet. I was trying to argue that we're offering little by way of positive…
President Obama's Epistolary War
Jack Goldsmith observes that President Obama seems to be skirting War Power Resolution rules by sending Congress notice of incremental battles against ISIS.
Yesterday President Obama sent a War Powers Resolution (WPR) letter to Congress…
Sharif Sees Power Eroding in Pakistan
Okay, time for me to eat a bit of crow. Back in the middle of August, I claimed "Pakistan Revolution Fizzling Out" and said that the dual protests led by Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri were turning out to be much smaller than anticipated and…
Is JP Morgan Crying Cyberwolf about Russia? Or Is Mike Rogers?
There was a weird spate of reporting on the cyberthreat to banks last week. Normally, security firms (and occasionally really good tech journalists) report under their own name on such attacks -- after all, they have businesses to run! But…
Appalachian State Trashnado: The Second One
Hey there Lugnuts, how the hell you doing? That's right, Trash Talk is back. Bigger. Better. And more trashy than ever. This ain't no party. This ain't no disco. This ain't no fooling around. There are probably other things this ain't. But I…