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Sam Sacks - page 46

Sam Sacks has 859 articles published.

DOJ, SEC, FTC Try To Wiggle Out Of Impending Warrant Requirements

Representatives from federal civil law enforcement agencies implored US Senators on Wednesday to ditch legislation that would require them to obtain warrants before reading Americans’ emails. The pleading came during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing focused on the ECPA Amendments Act—proposed legislation that would update the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) by creating privacy protections for emails, texts, and other information stored in the cloud. “The Department remains concerned…about the effect a blanket warrant requirement would have on its civil operations.” Elana Tyrangiel, an… Keep Reading

Dem Lawmaker Calls For Investigation Into Lucrative Fantasy Sports Leagues

The onset of football season in the US this year has been accompanied by a massive advertising push by one-day sports fantasy leagues promising customers immediate fortunes if they win—a marketing blitz that has caught the attention of at least one suspicious lawmaker. In an interview on Tuesday, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) took a swipe at partnerships between sports leagues and teams and companies like FanDuel and DraftKings that have promised to pay out over two billion dollars in winnings this year alone. Rep. Pallone… Keep Reading

State Dept. Rejects Idea Of A Second Anti-Islamic State Coalition

When it comes to coalitions to counter the Islamic State (ISIL), the world is only big enough for one, the Obama administration suggested on Tuesday. State Department Press Secretary John Kirby said Thursday that renewed cooperation between the Russian and Syrian governments will not be seen as a positive development by the US-led alliance against ISIL. “There’s no need for another international coalition against ISIL when 60-plus nations are already aligned and then having an effect on ISIL not just in Syria but also in… Keep Reading

U.S. Government Studies Vaping; Tax Revenue Not Up In Vapor

Although more Americans are turning to e-cigarettes for their nicotine fixes, a new government study found that the rise of vaping has had little impact on decreasing traditional tobacco tax revenues. In a study released Monday, the Government Accountability Office “found no current evidence” that the burgeoning, multi-billion dollar e-cigarette industry is depressing cigarette tax revenue, which has been declining by roughly $5 million per month over the last six years. The main reason why the e-cigarette industry doesn’t appear to be impacting its conventional… Keep Reading

No More “Wheelies” On CNN Shows ISIS Is Losing, Claims State Dept. Spox

The lack of news footage showing Islamic State (ISIL) fighters horsing around on military vehicles proves that the US strategy against the militant group is working, a US government official claimed Monday. State Department spokesman John Kirby said that the lack of the ostentatious displays by the insurgents demonstrated that, one year on, the US-led coalition was making progress in its campaign “to degrade and destroy ISIL.” “A year ago they had thousands more pieces of military equipment,” Kirby told reporters, without mentioning that much… Keep Reading

Bernie Goes To Liberty University To Enlist Economic Justice Warriors

It’s not exactly the place you’d expect to see a Democratic candidate stump for president, but Sen. Bernie Sanders was at the world’s largest Christian college on Tuesday, challenging students to join him in his crusade against inequality. An auditorium of 10,000 people at Liberty University welcomed the surging presidential hopeful who now leads former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in some polls in both Iowa and New Hampshire—the first two contests on the Democratic primary schedule next year. Sanders began his remarks by acknowledging… Keep Reading

White House Unfazed By Spy “Revolt”

The administration doesn’t have any doubts about the intelligence it’s receiving on the impact of the war against the Islamic State (ISIL), despite news that more than fifty spies have complained to a government watchdog about their reports being politicized. White House spokesman Josh Earnest deflected questions on Friday about allegations that senior officials at the Defense Intelligence Agency scrubbed negative assessments of anti-ISIL operations. Those charges prompted the Pentagon’s inspector general to launch an investigation into the matter. “The president does have confidence in… Keep Reading

Spy Chief: Hard to Criticize OPM Hack While “Living In Glass Houses”

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper cautioned lawmakers on Thursday about the posture they take toward certain foreign countries’ adversarial cyber behavior, reminding them that the US engages in similar activities around the world. Clapper was responding to comments from Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, who called for more international rules when it comes to foreign intelligence gathering. “With respect to that which is conducted for espionage purposes, I would just caution that we think—in the old psalm… Keep Reading

ISIS Intelligence Manipulation Probe Sparked by Dozens of US Spies’ Allegations

An inspector general investigation into charges that senior intelligence officials pressured analysts to downplay setbacks in the war against the Islamic State (ISIL) was triggered after more than 50 spies lodged formal complaints, according to a report by The Daily Beast. The inquiry was launched in July after two senior analysts at the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) protested to the Pentagon’s watchdog that their assessments were being politically manipulated to hype up coalition forces’ successes on the battlefield. Following the complaints from the two… Keep Reading

State Dept. Spox: Criticism of Email Czar’s Prior Political Contributions Unfair Because…Turkey

State Department spokesperson John Kirby compared conflict of interest charges leveled at the department’s new transparency coordinator to undemocratic actions allegedly undertaken by the Turkish government. “This is the United States of America. It’s a democracy people are allowed to do this sort of thing,” John Kirby told reporters Wednesday, defending Janice Jacobs who was hired as an “email czar” by the department this week to oversee Freedom of Information Act requests with a focus on Hillary Clinton’s much sought-after cache of correspondences. On Tuesday… Keep Reading

Dept. Of Energy’s FOIA Responses “Significantly Impacted” By Poor Recordkeeping

As the State Department scrambles to respond to the flood of requests for official emails to and from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a separate federal department is struggling to manage the consequences of its own failure to keep its business on its servers. The Department of Energy’s Inspector General released a report Wednesday, describing several “issues” with the department’s handling of electronic records—particularly staff emails. “Guidelines within which employees could send or receive work-related email from their personal accounts had not been established,… Keep Reading

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