SECRECY & THE SECURITY STATE - page 12

The fledgling Trump administration is already dealing with a high-profile resignation. National Security Advisor Michael Flynn stepped down on Monday night, amid reporting that he broke the law during a December phone call with a Russian ambassador, and then lied about it. In his resignation letter, Flynn admitted only that he “inadvertently briefed the Vice President Elect and others with incomplete information.” As late as Monday afternoon, it had appeared Flynn’s job might be safe. White House advisor Kelly Ann Conway claimed on MSNBC that…

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Violent crime rates are at a near 20-year low, but the President of the United States tasked his newly sworn-in Attorney General to get a hold of the “gang members and drug dealers terrorizing” the nation. Former Sen. Jeff Session (R-Ala.) was sworn in during a ceremony in the Oval Office on Thursday. Afterward, President Trump signed three executive orders that he described as “designed to restore safety in America.” One measure directs the Department of Justice to create a task force on reducing violent…

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Appearing before a congressional panel on Tuesday, the Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly proposed requiring foreign travelers to the US to provide immigration officers with social media account log-ins. Kelly faced questioning on the issue from Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.), who urged the department to “increase its efforts to dig into” social media activity of visa applicants. The DHS chief concurred, stating that he was looking into “enhanced” screening, regardless of the current order blocking implantation of President Trump’s Muslim ban. “If someone wants to…

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Days after President Donald Trump authorized his first secret military operation—a counter-terror intelligence raid in Yemen—the Pentagon is admitting that civilians were likely killed in the firefight. US Central Command acknowledged in a statement Wednesday night that the Seal Team 6 raid on a remote village in central Yemen on Sunday resulted in noncombatant casualties, which “may include children.” Also killed in the operation was Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer William “Ryan” Owens. Three other service members were wounded. And a $75 million helicopter had…

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An executive order signed by President Donald Trump last Friday that has sparked protests around the country has now created unrest within the US State Department. Career Foreign Service officers at the department submitted a memo through an official channel raising their objections to the administration’s decision to ban travelers, including refugees, from seven majority-Muslim nations from entering the United States. “This ban stands in opposition to the core American and constitutional values that we, as federal employees, took an oath to uphold,” the diplomats…

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In what is quickly becoming a ritual of his presidency, Trump unleashed a Twitter rant on Thursday morning—this one aimed at Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning, calling her a “traitor.” The timing of the President’s tweets corresponded with a segment that aired on Fox News minutes earlier, which was also heavily critical of Manning. “Ungrateful TRAITOR Chelsea Manning, who should never have been released from prison, is now calling President Obama a weak leader. Terrible!” Trump tweeted shortly after 6am. As CNN’s Brian Stelter reported, Trump’s message…

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Congress is backing off from a push to grant the Federal Bureau of Investigations more warrantless surveillance powers. Lawmakers had been attempting to use the annual intelligence policy bill to allow the FBI to obtain more sensitive digital information from Americans, using only a subpoena. That effort, however, has been abandoned, this year, according to a recently published Senate Intelligence Committee report on the legislation. “This expansion of government surveillance authorities was both far-reaching and intrusive, potentially covering records related to Americans’ email exchanges as well…

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CIA Director John Brennan is just days away from being relieved of his post, but on his way out the door, two key Democratic Senators are reminding him they’re still skeptical of what he has told Congress. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Ron Wyden (R-Ore.) sent a letter to Brennan on Wednesday, asking him to follow-up on testimony he gave before the Intelligence Committee last June about holding individuals within the agency accountable for torture. “We request that you correct or clarify your public testimony…

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Kansas Congressman Mike Pompeo was asked by the Senate Intelligence Committee about a prior op-ed he wrote, pushing for the creation of a new dragnet surveillance program, including “lifestyle information.” Rep. Pompeo, who is being tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to be the next CIA Director, said he had “not changed his mind” in regards to his advocacy for building a domestic intelligence database comprised of publicly available information—far broader than the now-shuttered phone metadata program revealed by Edward Snowden in 2013. “I still continue…

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An uncorroborated memo that has been circulating for months around news organizations, lawmakers, and US government officials–one alleging dealings between President-Elect Donald Trump and the Russian government–has sparked a full-blown clash between the incoming administration and US spies and journalists. Trump on Wednesday convened his first press conference since July. Although the focus of the back-and-forth with reporters was supposed to be on Trump’s plans to resolve his conflicts of interest, CNN and BuzzFeed reporting on the memo became the focus of the proceedings. “BuzzFeed…

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Amid the confirmation hearing for Donald Trump’s choice to be the next Attorney General, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) bemoaned how critics on the left were characterizing the selection. Hatch said that the nominee, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), was not too far on the right to merit consideration. He then got Sessions to commit to the possibility of enforcing anti-obscenity laws with renewed vigor. “It was part of the Department of Justice for a long time and I would consider that,” Sessions said, when asked by…

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