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Monthly archive

July 2016 - page 3

Admin. Stretches Definition of Congressional Approval for War in Lawsuit Over ISIL Campaign

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The Obama administration is seeking to dismiss a lawsuit brought against it, which alleges that the military campaign against the Islamic State (ISIL) is being illegally waged. In court filings this week, Department of Justice lawyers argued that the current war effort against ISIL—known as Operation Inherent Resolve—does not violate the War Powers Act. The 1973 law restricts the President’s powers to commit the US military to a sustained armed conflict for more than 60 days without Congressional approval. The legislature has yet to formally…

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Al Franken, Like Many of Us, Has Questions About Pokemon Go’s Privacy Policy

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A United States Senator is unimpressed with Pokemon Go’s “Gotta Catch ‘Em All” approach to data-mining. Al Franken (D-Minn.) wrote a letter on Tuesday to John Hanke the CEO of Niantic, which last week released the widely-popular mobile app-based game. Franken asked the executive a number of questions, mostly concerning “the extent to which Niantic may be unnecessarily collecting, using, and sharing a wide range of users’ personal information without their appropriate consent.” “From a user’s general profile information to their precise location data and…

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Federal Judge Grounds “Stingray” Evidence Gathered Without a Warrant

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A federal court has for the first time dismissed evidence obtained using a cell site simulator, ruling that the government must obtain a warrant before employing the surveillance technology. Also known as a “stingrays,” the gadgets are in wide use by federal and local police to track down suspects based on their cell phone information. They are often mounted on an airplane and flown over a community, pinging cell phones below until pinpointing the location of a target. In the case before US District Judge William Pauley in Manhattan…

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Eric Holder Ignored Internal Calls to Prosecute HSBC for Money Laundering

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Federal prosecutors reportedly sought a guilty plea from HSBC in 2012, after the bank was caught laundering money and helping governments bust US sanctions, but the initiative was ignored by top Justice Department officials. The allegation was made earlier this week in a report compiled by Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee. The probe alleges that DOJ officials backed off any move to prosecute the London-based bank after pressure from the British government. In December 2012, the Justice Department and HSBC reached a $1.9…

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Sanders Cites Dem Platform, Public Option As Basis For Endorsing Clinton

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The rivals for the Democratic nomination put the race behind them on Tuesday, and appeared together on stage in New Hampshire where Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for President. Sanders noted a “significant coming together” between the two campaigns in recent weeks, which have seen both Clinton and the Democratic establishment methodically tack to the left while drafting the party’s platform. “We produced, by far, the most progressive platform in the history of the Democratic Party,” Sanders told the crowd.…

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With Congress Weighing TPP, Top Dem Asks State for Updates on Malaysian Slave Labor, Mass Grave Investigation

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Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) requested regular updates from the State Department on the Malaysian government’s inquiry into last year’s discovery of mass graves on its soil. Cardin asked for routine reports on the aftermath of the findings in a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday, after noting Congress is considering closer economic ties with Malaysia—via the Trans Pacific Partnership. The tombs, which were found in May 2015 along the Malaysian-Thailand border, contained 139 migrant slave laborers. “I would just make a request–that because of the sensitivity of Malaysia, and…

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Pentagon Sends Two Gitmo Detainees to Serbia

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The number of detainees remaining at the Guantanamo Bay prison facility dropped to 76 this week, following the transfers of two prisoners to the Government of Serbia. The Pentagon announced the transfers of Tajik national, Muhammadi Davlatov, and Yemeni-born Mansur Ahmad Saad al-Dayfi in a statement on Monday. The men had been imprisoned at Guantanamo since 2002. One of the detainees, al-Dayfi was cleared for transfer last October, after an inter-agency review board overturned a prior determination in 2010 that he was too dangerous for…

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Netflix and Jail? Federal Appeals Court Says Password Sharing is Forbidden by CFAA

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A federal appellate court in San Francisco last week ruled that password sharing can be illegal, in a case that could have a chilling effect on access to content-streaming sites like Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBOGO and others. The circuit said in a 2-1 ruling that David Nosal violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) when he accessed proprietary data owned by his former employer. While the court concluded that the ruling shouldn’t be read too broadly—because, it held, Nosal was stealing trade secrets—it did…

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More than 500 US Troops To Deploy to Iraq In Prep for Mosul Siege

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During a surprise visit to the Iraqi capital on Monday, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced the deployment of 560 more US troops to the country, ahead of what could be a critical battle against the Islamic State (ISIL). The new influx of soldiers will primarily take up position near the town of Qayyarah, at an airfield recently recaptured by Iraqi security forces. The base is roughly 40 miles south of Mosul—one of the largest cities held by ISIL, when it was captured in 2014. “These additional US…

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GOP Focuses on Clinton’s Lies During Comey Grilling

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Days after he recommended no charges against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, FBI Director James Comey was called before a House oversight panel on Thursday to defend his decision. House Republicans seized on the proceedings to highlight several inaccurate statements made by Clinton regarding her private email server—including false claims to Congress that may warrant another FBI investigation. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), the Chairman of the House Government and Government Reform Committee, mentioned Clinton’s testimony before the Benghazi investigatory committee last October. During her…

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Grassley: Pentagon Likely to Miss Long-Anticipated Transparency Deadline Due to “Same Old Garbage” Accounting

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Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) accused the Department of Defense of continuing to neglect proper accounting techniques, casting further doubt on whether the agency will pass a long-awaited oversight test next fall. Grassley questioned if Pentagon Chief Financial Officer Mike McCord has “a handle on the core problem,” which he described as a lack of accurate information. “If [McCord] did, why would he continue throwing money at solutions that don’t produce what is needed most, and that is reliable transaction data?” Grassley asked Thursday, in a…

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