Thanks to Dianne Feinstein and Mark Udall for Seeing Torture Report Through
The Senate Intelligence Committee just voted 11-3 to release the torture report, with 3 ardent GOP critics voting to release the report.
McClatchy (as it has had throughout recent debates over this) has good coverage, including two new details:
CIA…
DOJ Doesn't Want You to Know about Any Inspire-related FISA Surveillance Programs
I have written repeatedly about the case of Adel Daoud (see these two posts). The FBI caught him in a sting in 2012 where they had him perform bombing a night club. He was 18 at the time he caught.
While the government immediately informed…
Afghanistan Staggers Toward Election
Saturday will mark the first time Afghanistan has gone to the polls to choose a new president since the US overthrew the Taliban and put Hamid Karzai in charge. This will hardly be an accomplishment to herald in the US press, although I am sure…
How the Torture Report Declassification Is Likely to Work
Aspiring Senate Intelligence Chair Richard Burr has announced he will vote to declassify the Torture Report.
Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., also said he planned to vote to declassify.
[snip]
Burr added: “We’ve already expressed our opposition…
James Clapper Continues to Cover Up FBI's Back Door Searches on US Targets
In their stories catching up to my past reporting on the Semiannual Compliance Report's discussion of backdoor searches, the Guardian and NYT focus on NSA and (in the case of the NYT) CIA. Neither mentions that the FBI also does such back door…
Billion Dollar Boondoggle: Israel's Iron Dome Misfires
Less than two weeks after the US announced yet another $429 million in funding for Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system (which had already gotten over $900 million from the US), the system malfunctioned badly on Tuesday, resulting in…
CIA's Own Records of CIA's Lies to Congress
Monday, WaPo made big news for reporting what Ron Wyden made clear 14 months ago: a key conclusion of the Senate Torture report is that CIA lied to Congress (and DOJ and the White House).
But much of this has been clear for even longer, having…
In Announcing Support for Declassifying Report, Susan Collins Uses Word "Torture"
It is fairly big -- and welcome -- news that, along with Angus King, Susan Collins will support the release of the Senate Torture Report. Collins' vote will give the report the patina of bipartisanship, which will therefore increase its legitimacy…
[UPDATED] Russian GPS-Alternative Satellites Went 'Illegal/Failure': Solar Storm Damage or Cyberwar in Space?
[Update at end of article.—Rayne 6:45 pm EST]
Between 1030 and 0400 UTC last night or early morning, most of Russia's GLONASS satellites reported “illegal” or “failure” status. As of this post, they do not appear to be back…
James Clapper Confirms VADM Mike Rogers Needlessly Obfuscated in Confirmation Hearing
On Friday, James Clapper finally provided Ron Wyden an unclassified response to a question he posed on January 29, admitting that the NSA conducts back door searches. (via Charlie Savage)
As reflected in the August 2013 Semiannual Assessment…
Has Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security Infiltrated the Taliban?
As we get into the final days before voting begins on Saturday for Afghanistan's presidential election, the biggest question aside from the issue of who will win is whether the Taliban will succeed in its determination to disrupt the election…
CIA's Self-Authorization for Ice-Drowning Human Beings
The WaPo has a story that repeats what I've been harping on for over a year (and in some cases, has been clear even longer): the Senate Torture Report shows that CIA repeatedly lied to Congress.
There are, however, ugly new details about…
Why Did DoD Wait Over Three Months to Issue Records Preservation Order After SIGAR Request?
Back in July of last year, SIGAR issued an alert (pdf) regarding what SIGAR head John Sopko termed "a potentially troubling example of waste that requires your immediate attention". That statement was in Sopko's cover letter to Defense Secretary…
Keith Alexander's Bubble Floats into the Sunset of Defense Contractor Sinecures
Today, LAT has an extremely friendly exit interview with Keith Alexander that nevertheless depicts the now-retired General as hopelessly lost inside a bubble far removed from those who paid his salary. It depicts Alexander confusing objections…
Why Does NSA Get a Pass on the Boston Marathon Attack?
In addition to a motion claiming the FBI asked Tamerlan Tsarnaev to become an informant during their investigation of him in 2011, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's lawyers submitted a motion requesting notice of whether the government intends to submit as…
Ron Wyden, Refusing to Play Prosecutor, Says We Need to Ban Dragnet Collection of Purchase Records
Meet the Press continues to spew absolute idiocy regarding the Snowden leaks. In an attempt to get Ron Wyden to call Edward Snowden a criminal today, Chuck Todd suggested because Wyden is a Senator he has the authority to decide who gets…
Newly-Released Dragnet Order Suggests Spike in 215 Orders May Include Financial Records
I Con the Record reissued less classified versions of two Section 215 orders: the March 2, 2009 one that sharply restricted the phone dragnet without much new declassified, and the June 22, 2009 one that dealt, in part, with FBI and CIA access…
Widely Varying Reports on First Talks Between Pakistan Government, TTP
The first round of formal talks involving figures from Pakistan's government and military on one side and the Pakistan Taliban, or TTP, on the other concluded Wednesday. Because the talks were held in the tribal areas, reports on how the talks…
More Clarity and Lack Thereof in the Obama Dragnet Reform
A Senior Administration Official has clarified two remaining questions I had about the President's plan to reform the dragnet.
First and very importantly, the conference call left unclear (and most subsequent reporting often didn't directly…
Happy Birthday to Me, Mike Rogers Edition
I'm going to level with you all. Today is my birthday.
And in honor of my birthday, apparently, two of my nemeses will shift their careers. At 3PM, Keith Alexander retires as Director of the NSA.
And in an entirely unexpected announcement,…