A NEWS CO-OP IN DC SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE

Author

Sam Sacks - page 67

Sam Sacks has 859 articles published.

District Court Protects Koch Shroud of Secrecy

The billionaire Koch brothers beat back a move to inject more transparency into the duo’s shadowy electioneering activities, after a district court ruled that more disclosures about donors funding a group run by the pair could violate the First Amendment. California’s Attorney General Kamala Harris attempted to force the Koch Brothers’ deep-pocketed political action committee, American for Prosperity (AFP), to reveal information about its donors in accordance with California law. Although the group had skirted the requirement in previous years, the Attorney General, beginning in… Keep Reading

Ex-CIA Officer Alleging Discrimination Runs Into State Secrets Wall

After yet another government invocation of the state secrets doctrine, a federal court in Virginia tossed out a lawsuit brought by a former employee of the Central Intelligence Agency who alleged he was the victim of discrimination in the workplace. In an opinion published by Courthouse News, US District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee ruled that “the Plaintiff’s claims must be dismissed under the state secrets privilege.” He added that “privileged information is at the heart of Plaintiffs claims for discrimination on the basis of disability… Keep Reading

Top Spy James Clapper Sets Up Polygraph Regime to Target Leakers

A new policy guidance issued this month by one of the nation’s top spies takes aim at intelligence community workers suspected of talking to the press. The Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, released the guidance on Feb. 4 detailing how polygraph testing is used in “personnel security vetting,” specifically to determine if an employee has committed high crimes like espionage or terrorism, and also if they’ve handed over classified documents to a journalist. “Examinations shall cover the topics of espionage, sabotage, terrorism, unauthorized disclosure,… Keep Reading

Administration Approves International Sale of Killer Drones

In a significant policy shift that’s guaranteed to pay dividends to US defense contractors, the State Department released new guidelines that will formally allow the sale and transfer of armed drones from American companies to international partners. Under the new policy announced Tuesday, future sales of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) will be made through a “government-to-government Foreign Military Sales Program,” and will be reviewed by the Department of Defense. The guidelines also claim that each recipient nation of US drone technology will be “required to… Keep Reading

Public Comment Period Closes on New Rule That Could Criminalize Tor Users, Leave Millions Vulnerable to Government Surveillance

Tuesday marks the final day for public comment on a subtle Justice Department rule change that, if approved, would give law enforcement the ability to hack into millions of computers belonging to users not accused of any wrongdoing. The DOJ has proposed that rules of criminal procedure should give judges more latitude in issuing computer search warrants. Under the offered amendment, law enforcement would be able to obtain a warrant to pry into any computer that is using “technological means” to conceal its location. The… Keep Reading

Operative Who Confessed to Criminal Fundraising Tied to Several GOP Senators

An analysis of campaign disclosures by a Washington-based non-profit watchdog has unearthed previously unknown connections between a political consultant who confessed to criminal electioneering activities and a trio of sitting Republican Senators. Last week, Tyler Harber pleaded guilty to charges that he unlawfully coordinated election activity between a 2012 Virginia congressional campaign that he was running and a Super PAC that he was managing under an alias. On Tuesday, the Sunlight Foundation revealed more information about Harber’s political activities. Although he was under suspicion for… Keep Reading

The Fog of War Authorizations

The President’s decision to seek a new war resolution from Congress this week is a tacit acknowledgment by the White House that its current justification to fight the Islamic State is on shaky legal ground. That anxiety became less subtle on Thursday when the administration’s new National Counterterrorism Center Director, Nicholas Rasmussen, contradicted claims made by the administration that current operations against the Islamic State (ISIL) are justified under the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). When asked by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.)… Keep Reading

“No U.S. Installation in Afghanistan Has Ever Been in Compliance” With Toxic Waste Disposal Law, Army Admits

In an effort to rid the nation of the waste accumulated during America’s longest war, US military bases in Afghanistan are using open-air burn pits in violation of laws that prevent the incineration of hazardous materials, according to a watchdog report published Thursday. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) sounded the alarm over the practice after finding that “US military and civilian personnel were continuously exposed to the potentially harmful effects associated with burning solid waste in open-air burn pits.” The toxic exposure… Keep Reading

U.S. Lawmaker Urges Cooperation with Assad in Islamic State Fight

In the war against the Islamic State, US Members of Congress have praised despots in the Middle East for their willingness to engage with the extremist group, despite said leaders’ undemocratic and often brutal domestic policies. But they’ve been reluctant to endorse an alliance with Syria’s President Bashar al Assad, who the administration wants to fight simultaneously. But one lawmaker bucked that trend on Thursday. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), on CSPAN’s Washington Journal, urged President Obama to work with the Syrian president to defeat IS.… Keep Reading

Gallery Post

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Nam… Keep Reading

Now in Complete Control of Congress, GOP Support for Updating Voting Rights Act Dissipates

It’s been more than a year and half since the Supreme Court gutted legislation that prevented voter discrimination in the United States, and prospects that Congress will fix the damage done are dimming. On Tuesday, Reps. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) and John Conyers (D-Mich.) introduced legislation to restore the 1965 Voting Rights Act, however the ranks of Republicans supporting the measure are negligible. So far, only three other Republicans have sponsored the bill. Last Congress, 11 GOP members supported similar legislation. The Voting Rights Amendment Act,… Keep Reading

1 … 65 66 67 68 69 … 79
Go to Top