Is CIA Spying Domestically by Hacking Americans' Computers?
In addition to further details about CIA's quashed review showing torture didn't work and a commitment from James Clapper he would tell the American people if any of them had been back door searched, Ron Wyden and Mark Udall (along with Martin…
Dianne Feinstein Protects John Brennan from Being Called a Liar
Surprisingly, the most contentious comments from today's Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on were not directed at James "Too Cute by Half" Clapper, but instead John Brennan. Both Martin Heinrich (who used the Early Bird rule to ensure he…
Jello Jay Rockefeller: Associational Database Is "Core Governmental Function"
I'm watching the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on global threats, and will have more to say about the Snowden fear-mongering later.
But I wanted to point to Jello Jay Rockefeller's remarkable campaign in favor of the status quo for…
Shuttle Diplomats Are Better Than Shuttle War Mongers
Today's Washington Post carries a story that is quite unlike their usual coverage that tends to tilt toward violence answering most problems. In the story is a striking photo of former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, former President of…
Clapper and Holder Remind Us "Disclosure" Mostly Pertains to Targets
I want to thank James Clapper and Eric Holder who, in their statement on yesterday's "disclosure" agreement emphasized the word "target."
As indicated in the Justice Department’s filing with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the…
Verizon's Storefront
As I noted yesterday, Verizon conveniently released its own transparency report 5 days before the government approved new transparency guidelines (according to one report, the deal was substantially completed earlier in the month, but had to…
US Doubles Down on "Crazy Karzai" Meme
As the US military bumbles and stumbles toward an ignominious exit from Afghanistan that is looking more and more like it will follow the script from the Iraq exit, it appears that the final ploy from Washington is an effort to paint Afghan…
Would NSA's New Big Social Media Data Approach Have Noticed the Arab Spring?
Sometime in 2011, I was on a panel with the Democracy Now's Sharif Kouddous -- whose tweeting from Tahrir Square played an important role in keeping the world informed after Hosni Mubarak shut down the Internet. I mentioned that DiFi had been…
Judge Lamberth Takes DOJ to Woodshed; DOJ Moves Peas Under Different Pods
There was an interesting, albeit little noticed, order issued about ten days ago in the somewhat below the radar case of Royer v. Federal Bureau of Prisons. Royer is a federal inmate who has served about half of his 20 year sentence who in 2010…
The New Transparency Guidelines
DOJ and the tech companies just came to a deal on new transparency reporting. (h/t Mike Scarcella) It is a big improvement over what the government offered last year which was:
Option One: Provide total number of requests (criminal NSL, FISA)…
Important: Changes to Section 215 Dragnet Will Not Change Treatment of EO 12333 Metadata
In their Angry Birds stories, both the Guardian and NYT make what I believe is a significant error. They suggest changes in the handling of the Section 215-collected phone metadata will change the way NSA handles EO 12333-collected phone metadata.
Guardian:
Data…
Glass Shattered: California Supreme Court Denies Stephen Glass Law License
The decision is in, and the California Supreme Court has made their decision to refuse to grant Stephen Glass a law license in the State of California.
We conclude that on this record he has not sustained his heavy burden of demonstrating…
The Latest in Terrorist Training: Playing Angry Birds
I confess, I don't really know what Angry Birds is, except that my tweener niece was hot on the game a year ago.
But apparently it must be a key part of terrorist training (which makes me worried about my niece), because the NSA gathers up…
Susan Collins Can't Decide Whether to Abandon Her Infant, PCLOB
Politico has an article predicting civil liberties will become a big issue this year. I'm skeptical (I say that as someone whose Rep the GOP is trying to take out largely because of his defense of civil liberties).
But I am interested in…
The Unspeakable Tragedy of Homeless Drones
Yesterday, I speculated on whether Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was turning his back on his campaign promise of peace talks with the Taliban so that he could seek US counterterrorism funds suddenly not being used in Afghanistan. Today's…
Is NSA Wiretapping Now Rather than Tipping?
One of the news bits a number of outlets took away from the phone dragnet order document dump 10 days ago is that the NSA averages(d) about 3 tips a day to the FBI.
That's actually not news. It's consistent with a series of accountings NSA…
The Dead-Enders Insist Their Illegal Dragnet Was and Is Not One
As I noted in my last post, seven Bush dead-enders plus KS Representative and House Intelligence member Mike Pompeo wrote a letter to ... someone ... pushing back against the RNC condemnation of the NSA dragnet. As I noted in that post, along…
The RNC and the Dead-Enders
If you've spent much time in political party conventions, you likely know that the resolution process largely serves as an opportunity for active members to vent. While party resolutions might represent where the ideological base of the party…
Is Sharif Making a Play for Counterterrorism Funds US Cut from Afghanistan Budget?
Back in early November, the US carried out one of its most controversial drone strikes in Pakistan, killing TTP head Hakimullah Mehsud just hours before peace talks between the TTP and Pakistan were to begin. This move by the US seems to have…
The Corporate Store: Where NSA Goes to Shop Your Content and Your Lifestyle
I'm increasingly convinced that for seven months, we've been distracted by a shiny object, the phone dragnet, the database recording all or almost all of the phone-based relationships in the US over the last five years. We were never wrong to…