Operation Stall
McClatchy has now posted an update to the tale of the CIA-SSCI spat.
It appears the following happened: Sometime around August, SSCI staffers working on a database at CIA discovered the internal CIA report, started under Leon Panetta, that…
Verizon VP: Company-Based Transparency Reports Don't Help Consumers
There was a fascinating panel of Telecom execs and bloggers discussing human rights at RightsCon yesterday. Among others, Verizon Executive Vice President and General Counsel Randal Milch spoke.
As I noted in passing, Verizon published…
Imran Khan, Samuil Haq State US Does Not Want Peace Negotiations in Pakistan
As Pakistan traverses a difficult path, trying to negotiate peace with militant groups under a shaky ceasefire, provocative statements have come out this week from leading figures in the process accusing the US of not wanting the talks to succeed…
CIA Hacks Its Overseers
In January, Ron Wyden and Mark Udall suggested that CIA was hacking into US computers.
Wyden asked (43;04) John Brennan whether the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act applied to the CIA.
Wyden: Does the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act…
Mark Udall: CIA Took "Unprecedented Action" Against SSCI on Its Own Torture Report
Mark Udall just wrote Obama a sometimes cryptic letter asking him to commit to declassifying the Senate Intelligence Report torture report. In it, he:
Asserts a significant amount of what has been declassified about the torture program is…
WTF Sprint Suit?
As a number of outlets have reported, the government is suing Sprint for $63 million under the False Claims Act, claiming the telecom overbilled federal law enforcement agencies by charging for its CALEA modification costs in its wiretap charges.
On…
Syria On Track For Destruction of All Chemical Weapon Related Materials by July
Back at the end of January, I noted that Syria was being castigated for delays in removing its chemical weapon precursors when the US had not been blamed for delays in making the Cape Ray available for destruction of the chemicals to proceed.…
Is Twitter EFF's Second NSL Client?
In the past, I've tracked the efforts of a telecom -- which WSJ convincingly argued was Credo -- to challenge a 2011 National Security Letter. It has the support of EFF on that challenge. I also noted language in Credo's Transparency Report…
Rapid Developments in Pakistan: TTP Ceasefire, Halt to Air Strikes, Suicide Bombs in Islamabad
In recent posts, I've been wondering just how Pakistan's new security policy will be implemented. Late last week, it appeared as though Pakistan was determined to carry out a sustained military intervention in the Federally Administered Tribal…
The Naked and Unbound Ambition of Kyrsten Sinema
As the kerfuffle over SB-1062 dies down, politics march on here at ground zero in Arizona. The GOP runs the key Executive Branch offices such as governor and Secretary of State but, more importantly in many respects, also the state legislature,…
Minority Report on Ukraine, or What's Venezuela Got to Do with It?
I freely admit to being the oddest of the quadruplets in the Emptywheel sensory deprivation pool, producing the quirky minority report from time to time.
Which may explain the following graphic with regard to current geopolitical tensions.
As…
On America's Spent Moral Standing
You'll be hearing these two assertions repeated, made by someone who voted for the Iraq War in the 21st Century, a lot in coming days (see after 0:50).
You just don't, in the 21st Century, behave in 19th Century fashion by invading another…
The (Other Possibility) Inert UndieBomb 2.0
I'm cleaning up my desk so I wanted to return to something in this transcript from John Brennan's May 7, 2012 conference call with his predecessors at White House czar in attempt to pre-empt the AP's reporting on UndieBomb 2.0.
Fran Fragos…
The Filings DOJ Is Withholding In Jewel/Shubert
I'm re-reading all the declarations released last December in the Jewel case (the EFF-tied lawsuit challenging the dragnet) ... because I'm like that.
But I also want to call attention to details in this court filing challenging James Clapper's…
Of Neo-Fascists and Smiley-Face Neoliberals
Back before February 4, weeks before the most violent crackdown that killed protestors that led to Viktor Yanukovych's ouster, Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and US Ambassador to Ukraine had a conversation about how to divvy up…
2008's New and Improved EO 12333: Sharing SIGINT
As part of my ongoing focus on Executive Order 12333, I've been reviewing how the Bush Administration changed the EO when, shortly after the passage of the FISA Amendments Act, on July 30, 2008, they rolled out a new version of the order, with little…
How Will Pakistan Implement New Security Policy?
Earlier in the week, I wondered whether John Brennan had helped to shape the new counterterrorism policy that Pakistan is rolling out and whether it might be a ploy by Pakistan to capture some of the US counterterrorism dollars that would suddenly…
Keith Alexander's One Step Solution
Keith Alexander is testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, ostensibly about CyberCommand.
He has gotten a number of questions about the solutions they've offered the President to resolve the phone dragnet issue. He responded…
NSA May Not Voyeuristically Pore Through Email But GCHQ Voyeuristically Pores Through WebCam Pictures
Back in James Clapper's very first attempt to dismiss his lies to Ron Wyden, he said,
“What I said was, the NSA does not voyeuristically pore through U.S. citizens’ e-mails. I stand by that,” Clapper told National Journal in a telephone…
Dahl, Reuters Grant Anonymity to "Sources" Peddling Iran Info Rejected by IAEA
Back in October, I noted that as the P5+1, IAEA and Iran all moved toward agreements on Iran's nuclear technology, the usual pathway employed by those who wish to disrupt peaceful talk and agitate toward military solutions was remarkably silent.…