Section 215 Order Reveals Secrecy Only Serves to Prevent Court Challenge
Last March, when Hank Johnson asked him a poorly worded question about what NSA was doing with its data center in Utah, NSA head Keith Alexander kept saying the NSA had no power to collect in the US.
Johnson: “NSA’s signals intercepts include…
What an Overbroad Section 215 Order Looks Like
Glenn Greenwald has a tremendous scoop, for the first time I know of publishing a Section 215 warrant -- in this case one asking for all US-based traffic metadata from Verizon Business Services from April until July.
Now, I think that this…
DOD Inspector General Report: SOCOM Purged Their Osama bin Laden Files after Judicial Watch FOIA
I wanted to point to one more detail from the DOD Inspector General's report on Leon Panetta's leaks to Zero Dark 30's filmakers.
The very last page of the report describes how Admiral William McRaven responded after realizing the SEALs who…
Al Pacino Couldn't Protect CIA Headquarters
There's a funny passage from the DOD Inspector General on Leon Panetta's blabbing about the Osama bin Laden raid that was leaked to POGO.
It describes CIA's apparent helplessness from protecting CIA Headquarters from being breached by outsiders,…
Sharif Officially Elected as Prime Minister, Calls For End to Drone Strikes
Although the formal casting of ballots by the National Assembly was delayed for an hour by the presence of three times as many observers as the capacity of the parliament house, Nawaz Sharif breezed to an easy victory today and was elected…
Leon Panetta: Sheep Dipping Secrets
POGO has a story that adds a new twist to an old story.
The old story is Leon Panetta, leaking classified info, in this case, leaking info on the Osama bin Laden raid to a Zero Dark Thirty executive.
In June 2011, when he was director of…
Michael Hayden, Troll Extraordinaire
"Intelligence agencies often act on the edges of executive prerogative and move forward based on a narrow base of lawfulness and limited congressional notification," says Michael Hayden, the guy who oversaw Bush's illegal wiretap for 2.5 years…
Putin's Congressional Puppets
I have to give this to Michele Bachmann. Unlike most of the members of Congress she traveled to Russia with last week, she has not (at least not apparently) been suckered by Vladimir Putin to play his patsy.
Jim already described Dana Rohrabacher's…
Journalists: Eric Holder Believes You're Probably a Criminal But Won't Charge You
As I noted the other day, Eric Holder seems intent on calling journalists whom he believes are co-conspirators in a criminal leak something else.
Which is why I think this detail, from Politico’s leaks-about-a-meeting-about-leaks story,…
The Latest Ploy to Avoid Federal and Presidential Records Act, FOIA
As if the AP and the Administration weren't already enjoying a contentious relationship, today it details the Administration's use of second, secret emails.
Some of President Barack Obama's political appointees, including the secretary for…
Afghanistan Arrests Colonel For Turning Over Prisoners to Zakaria Kandahari
Please tell me which country follows the rule of law and which one is in the process of rebuilding its political and legal systems after war has left its government lawless and dominated by corruption.
I just can't stay away from the continually…
Manning Prosecution: I Don't Think the Government's Report Says What It Claims It Does
Kevin Gosztola reports that the government plans to use a document Bradley Manning is alleged to have accessed as part of its proof that he knew he'd be leaking any further information to al Qaeda and other enemies by leaking it to WikiLeaks.
Morrow…
Afghan Situation So Bad Propagandists Only Speak Of "Something That Could Still Resemble Victory"
Back in April, I ridiculed the Senate Armed Services Committee and especially ISAF Commander Joseph Dunford for continuing to hold on to the delusion that the US can still "win" in Afghanistan. As the situation in Afghanistan continues to get…
Navy v. Egan, not Just Branzburg v. Hayes, Needs Fixed
Today, 340 new journalists will join the 10 or so who have been covering the Bradley Manning prosecution closely for the last several years; his trial starts today at Fort Meade.
Expect to see a bunch of essays on secrecy to mark the beginning…
BREAKING: Globalization Is Dangerous
Globalization is dangerous.
But not, as it turns out, because it has gutted the middle class. Not even because a globalized supply chain has made it easier for our rivals to sabotage our defense programs, or that a globalized supply chain…
Commissary Cheap
Most of the veterans I follow on Twitter are pointing to this WaPo story on DOD's failure to eliminate commissaries on bases as an example of the worst of DOD bureaucracy.
Three summers ago, Richard V. Spencer, a retired investment banker who…
Why Would the UndieBomber Make a Martyrdom Video in Arabic?
In his drone letter to Congress 11 days ago, Eric Holder quoted a recording Anwar al-Awlaki made -- it was prominently reported across the US media in March 2010, not long after he was added to the drone kill list -- calling on Americans to…
Classification Games Hiding the Afghan Defeat
Amidst all the discussion of the Administration's crack-down on leaks, two details have made it clear the Administration is using its own abuse of classification to hide reports of our impending defeat in Afghanistan.
Administration leaks…
APB: At Least Two Missing "Law Enforcement Personnel," Last Seen at Ibragim Todashev Homicide Scene
When the FBI first admitted that it had killed Ibragim Todashev, it indicated there were at least 5 people at the scene: Two Massachusetts State cops, the FBI Agent being blamed for shooting Todashev, and "law enforcement personnel" -- plural…
Press Freedom: It Depends on What the Meaning of the Word "Is" Is
As we get further away from last week's what's-new-is-old counterterrorism speech, I'm increasingly convinced all that happened was the Administration yoked the word "continuing" onto the word "imminent" and declared an entirely new standard…