Ron Wyden to Dianne Feinstein: Pants on Fire
While the language about the FISA Amendments Act that Ron Wyden just got James Clapper to clear for release (first reported by Spencer Ackerman) doesn't exactly call Dianne Feinstein a liar, it comes close.
Wyden got the following three statements…
Jailed Journalist More Credible than FBI Interview
There are two paragraphs of the William Webster report on Nidal Hasan's contacts with Anwar al-Awlaki I find particularly interesting. [This appears on page 62; remember that Webster uses both redactions and substitutions--I've used different…
That's Why They Call It Senseless Violence
As you've heard, a killer wearing a bullet proof vest and wielding four guns shot up an Aurora, CO midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises last night. 12 have died, 50 are wounded. It is an utterly senseless tragedy.
The news has been filled,…
DOD's New Anti-Leak Plan: Turn Michael Vickers into a Blogger
DOD just rolled out its new plan to combat national security leaks. (h/t Jason Leopold) At its core is a "top-down" approach: to have the Under Secretary for Defense of Intelligence, Mike Vickers, to review all major reporting to look for leaks.
To…
The William Webster Report: Working Thread
The William Webster report into the Nidal Hasan killing is here. I'm about 45 pages in--it's an interesting report, both in content and in method. In particular, I like the way Webster dealt with classified information, including both redactions…
Targeted Killings: When John Cornyn Makes Better Sense than Democrats ...
Things got a little crazy when the Senate Judiciary Committee FISA Amendment Markup turned to targeted killing.
John Cornyn used the opportunity of this must-pass intelligence bill to propose an amendment to require the Administration to…
CIA "Command and Control" in Syria
Yesterday, in a story describing the state of affairs following the suicide bomb that took out key members of Bashar al Assad's national security team, David Ignatius described CIA's (and Israel's) involvement in Syria this way:
The CIA has…
Sheldon Whitehouse Confirms FISA Amendments Act Permits Unwarranted Access to US Person Content
In the Senate Judiciary Committee's markup of the FISA Amendments Act, Mike Lee, Dick Durbin, and Chris Chris Coons just tried, unsuccessfully, to require the government to get a warrant before it searched US person communications collected…
More Dirty Secrets Go to the Grave
I gotta believe Moussa Koussa is feeling a bit worried these days, as one after another of those harboring the secrets about the torture the US has been complicit with die. Today, Omar Suleiman brought details of how Egyptians tortured Omar…
Taliban Role Large in Green on Green Attacks
At least eleven Afghan soldiers were killed yesterday in two separate attacks. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for both attacks. In the Washington Post's coverage of the attacks, they take second billing to the attack on the NATO fuel…
Trained in America; Clothed in China
When ABC reported last week that the $1,400-$1,900+ uniforms Ralph Lauren won the contract to provide to Olympic athletes were made in China, Sherrod Brown not only pushed the US Olympic Committee to try to rectify the issue by the Winter 2014…
Will the Government Finally Use a Lawsuit as an Opportunity to Explain the Anwar al-Awlaki Killing?
When the ACLU and CCR represented Nasser al-Awlaki in a suit to prevent the government from killing Nasser's son Anwar unless the government could prove he was an imminent threat, Judge John Bates threw the case out on standing grounds. The…
Taliban Destroy 22 Supply Trucks in Afghanistan: No "Protection" Money on Northern Route?
When the flow of supply trucks through Pakistan into Afghanistan restarted earlier this month, I pointed out a report from the Express Tribune on the large amounts of cash paid to the Taliban as "protection" money. A detail in that report…
A 15-Month Fight for Subscriber Information
The WSJ today presents a Whodunnit behind an NSL submitted to a cell company in spring 2011.
Early last year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation sent a secret letter to a phone company demanding that it turn over customer records for an investigation.…
Scary Iran Plot: Bipolar Disorder and Other Reasons to Dismiss
As the NYT and TPM have reported, Manssor Arbabsiar--the accused plotter in the Scary Iran Plot--has moved to have his indictment dismissed because he is bipolar. His lawyers are basing that motion on the diagnoses of Clinical Neuropsychologist…
More Damage from Panetta's Vaccine Ruse: UN Doctor on Polio Vaccine Drive Shot; Hundreds of Thousands Denied Polio Vaccine
As one of only three countries in the world where polio is still endemic, Pakistan launched a three day vaccination drive yesterday with a target of vaccinating the 318,000 children in North and South Waziristan who have not received their vaccinations.…
No Banksters Were Harmed in the Production of This Anti-Crime Video
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The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has rolled out a campaign to raise awareness of Transnational Crime.
$870 billion dollars a year. Including $250 billion on counterfeit goods. $320 billion on…
Yesterday's Some-Sayers Have Become Today's Fact-Checkers
Paul Krugman makes a very good argument why the Bain attacks on Mitt Romney are necessary.
There is, predictably, a mini-backlash against the Obama campaign’s focus on Bain. Some of it is coming from the Very Serious People, who think that…
BREAKING! Importers Get Cost-Benefit Consideration, But You Don't
The Department of Homeland Security just blew off a deadline, last Thursday, to scan all US-bound shipping containers.
The Department of Homeland Security was given until this month to ensure that 100 percent of inbound shipping containers…
Do Republicans Wish They Retroactively Had Let Newt Sustain His Bain Attacks?
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Two soundbites from the Sunday shows have made a big stink: Mitt Romney's former Bain partner, Ed Conard, admitting that Mitt was legally CEO of Bain until 2002. And GOP fixer Ed Gillespie, distancing Mitt from…