Tapping the Oil Industry
Remember when it was outrageous that the Iranians had (allegedly) hacked Aramco? In addition to wiping hard drives (though in ways that left the computers recoverable), they also took and threatened to release documents.
In news that I earlier…
Is the Government Hiding FISC's "Erroneous" 215 Opinion Until After Basaaly Moalin's Hearing for a New Trial?
As I mentioned in this post, the government is due to turn over the remaining documents in the ACLU FOIA for Section 215 documents on November 18. Among the documents it may release is a February 24, 2006 FISC opinion. This may be the only…
Iran, IAEA Ink Agreement, But Was Slain Deputy Minister Part of P5+1 Negotiations?
Despite the near-miss over the weekend of an agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries aimed at diffusing the crisis over Iran's nuclear technology, an agreement was announced today in Tehran between Iran and the IAEA. The text…
Drone Strikes on the NYT's Claim to Have Improved
NYT Public Editor Margaret Sullivan attempts to tell the story of why the NYT held the illegal wiretap story before the 2004 election. Amid comments from the main players, she effectively admits that the NYT only published in 2005 because James…
Three Theories Why the Section 215 Phone Dragnet May Have Been "Erroneous" from the Start
Update, 1/6/14: I just reviewed this post and realize it's based on the misunderstanding that the February 24 OLC opinion is from last year, not 2006. That said, the analysis of the underlying tensions that probably led to the use of Section…
Was Adel Daoud Targeted Off of a Back Door Search of Traditional FISA Collection?
Daoud Adel is a 20-year old US citizen from suburban Chicago who was charged last year in an FBI sting in which he allegedly tried to set off a car bomb outside a night club. Last year, during the debate on FISA Amendments Act reauthorization,…
After Reportedly Being Offered Saudi Weapons Sales, France Tries to Blow Up Iran Deal
Several weeks after this WSJ article describing a staged Bandar bin Sultan tantrum about US actions, it was revealed the "Western diplomat" involved was a representative of France.
Diplomats here said Prince Bandar, who is leading the kingdom's…
The Dolphin Code: NFL Gangsta in Miami
We are going to take a little detour in our weekly lighthearted football trash talk here at the Emptywheel Blog. I will return to the actual games at the end of this post, but for now I want to discuss a hideous and, hopefully, transformative…
"Morgan Jones'" Blue Mountain Whitewash
One thing that surprises me about this whole 60 Minutes "Morgan Jones" fiasco is that no one mentions that, regardless of whether "Jones" lied to his supervisor about running to the compound or not, it's clear he lied to his supervisor about…
The Leahy-Sensenbrenner Language on Back Door Searches Improves But Doesn't Eliminate the Back Door
As the top Intelligence Community lawyers have made clear, the IC maintains it can search US person data incidentally collected under Section 702 without any suspicion, as well as for the purposes of making algorithms, cracking encryption, and…
The Intelligence Community's Wide Open, Unprotected Back Door to All Your Content
PCLOB has posted the transcript from the first part of its hearing on Monday. So I want to return to the issue I raised here: both Director of National Intelligence General Counsel Robert Litt and NSA General Counsel Raj De admit that there…
"Morgan Jones'" Three Unverifiable Claims Covered Up His Own Failures
As Michael Calderone reports, 60 Minutes has finally conceded they got hoodwinked by "Morgan Jones" AKA "Dylan Davies."
I've heard no related concession from Dick Cheney propagandist Mary Matalin that her Simon & Schuster imprint, Threshold,…
Science in the ‘National Interest’: What About Everything Else? [UPDATE]
The Republican-led House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, chaired by Rep. Lamar Smith (TX-21), wants the National Science Foundation’s grants to be evaluated based on the “national interest.”
Bring it, boneheads. By all means…
Leahy-Sensenbrenner Would Shut the Section 702 Cybersecurity Loophole
I'm going to have a few posts on the Leahy-Sensenbrenner bill, which is the most likely way we'll be able to rein in NSA spying. In addition to several sections stopping bulk collection, it has a section on collection of US person data under…
Senate Intelligence Swiss Cheese on OLC Memos
Great news!
After a member of the President's party had to hold up that President's nominee to head the CIA just to get Office of Legal Counsel memos authorizing the killing of an American citizen with no due process, the Senate Intelligence…
Red-Teaming Abdulrahman al-Awlaki's Assassination?
The Senate Intelligence Committee just released their Intelligence Authorization for next year. As part of it, they include "Targeted Lethal Force Reform." Part of it -- a useful part -- requires the government to produce unclassified numbers…
Aikins in Rolling Stone: Zakaria Kandahari Was in Facebook Contact With Special Forces After Escaping Arrest
By now, you undoubtedly have heard about Matthieu Aikins' blockbuster story published yesterday by Rolling Stone, in which he provides a full description of war crimes carried out by Special Operations forces in the Nerkh District of Maidan…
Did CIA Take Its Phone Dragnet Business to AT&T When FISC Enforced the Rules?
One important takeaway from Charlie Savage's report that the CIA pays AT&T $10 million for phone records to hunt (the story goes, though I don't buy it) terrorists is that CIA can replicate part of what the NSA's phone dragnet does by working…
Charles McCullough Too Busy Investigating Leakers to Investigate the Dragnet
As I noted back in September, Patrick Leahy and a bunch of other Senators asked the Intelligence Community Inspector General Charles McCullough to investigate the dragnet.
In particular, we urge you to review for calendar years 2010 through…
The New Antiwar Release: "They can't keep this stuff secret. Nothing is secret anymore."
Two years ago, Antiwar.com became aware of files relating to the site, that had been requested and were posted in relation to a FOIA on allegations Israelis had observed the 9/11 attack. I wrote about those files here. The files -- which started…