SECRECY & THE SECURITY STATE - page 36

A press freedom organization on Thursday said that it has filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department, demanding that it reveal information about how and why it spies on reporters. The legal salvo, launched by the Freedom of the Press Foundation, seeks to compel the publication of guidelines that the FBI uses when determining whether to issue National Security Letters (NSL) used to secretly investigate journalists. “The DOJ has wrongfully withheld the requested records,” the lawsuit states, citing numerous efforts by the foundation to obtain…

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The FBI is facing difficulty finding private sector partners who will share information related to cyber security threats, a Department of Justice watchdog reported, citing growing distrust of Washington following the Edward Snowden leaks. Companies have “become more reluctant to share information with the United States government because they are uncertain as to how the information they provide will be used and are concerned about balancing national security and individual privacy interests,” a Justice Department inspector general audit published Thursday noted. The IG referred to…

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Key Afghan institutions became less competent throughout this year, a US government watchdog warned on Thursday. Afghan National Defense and Security Forces are “less capable than last quarter,” the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction noted in a regular report. It also remarked that The Pentagon has downgraded its outlook on the expected capabilities of the Afghan Ministries of Interior and Defense by the end of next year. The assessment has come not long after prominent American military officials suggested that President Obama will strongly…

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A controversial legal opinion from the Department of Justice has inspectors general across multiple agencies concerned that their independence has been eroded. The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General released a statement on Monday, showing solidarity with DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowtiz, following a recent decision by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) to withhold certain documents from internal watchdogs. “OLC’s memorandum includes troubling language suggesting that other provisions of law may justify agencies withholding other information needed to conduct vigorous…

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As the Pentagon embarks on studying its ban on transgender service people, the White House declined to offer a full-throated defense of transgender rights, and instead focused on procedure. Asked directly during Thursday’s press briefing if the president believes that transgender people have a right to serve in the military, press secretary Josh Earnest said that he “welcomed the decision” by the Defense Department to conduct a review of current policy, but stopped short of affirming equal treatment. “The key here is implementing them,” Earnest…

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On the same day that the House is scheduled to vote on legislation that would cut federal funding to cities accused of providing a safe-haven to undocumented immigrants, a Judiciary subcommittee debated the same issue, prompting the top Democrat on the panel to accuse Republican leadership of running around standard procedure. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) called it “unfortunate” that Thursday’s hearing, titled “Sanctuary Cities: a Threat to Public Safety,” was scheduled “only a few hours” ahead of votes on a Republican-backed bill that would require…

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Reps. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Al Green (D-Texas) on Wednesday asked the Justice Department to investigate the death of Sandra Bland, a black activist who was found dead on July 13 in a Texas prison, days after being arrested during a routine traffic stop. The pair issued the call following the public release of surveillance footage of her July 10 arrest in Waller County, just outside of Houston. Green appealed for federal intervention from the floor of the House, while Jefferies sent a tweet simply…

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An immigrant rights group compared the tenor of a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing held Tuesday to the widely-derided campaign speeches of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Pablo Alvaro, the director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said the panel was adding to a “dangerous surge of racist rhetoric” led by Trump. “After making comments that Mexicans are rapists and murders, Donald Trump recently joined Joe Arpaio for a rally with xenophobes in Arizona,” Alvaro wrote, referring to the hardline anti-immigration sheriff of Maricopa County,…

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Far-flung War on Terror operations and the drone program they spawned led to a unique type of illicit waste, as the Pentagon scrambled throughout the past 14 years to acquire satellite communications technology. Offering a new analysis of a long-running problem in the wake of 9/11, the Government Accountability Office this week published a report detailing how the Defense Department’s many agencies have individually sought to satisfy their growing demand for SATCOM capabilities in the private sector—a violation of federal regulations. The GAO specifically cited…

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President Obama’s choice to be the next Army Chief of Staff suggested Tuesday that the administration is wavering from its commitment to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan by the end of next year. Gen. Mark Milley told Senate Armed Services Committee chair John McCain (R-Ariz.) at his confirmation hearing that the current timetable is subject to constant scrutiny by top generals leading the war effort. “I’ve been talking with John Campbell, Gen. Campbell, the commander of the force in Afghanistan,” Milley said. “It’s my understanding that…

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The decade-and-a-half long war on terror is taking a significant toll on the nation’s best-trained soldiers and the Pentagon doesn’t have any plans to relieve them, a new government study concluded. The number of Special Operations Forces (SOF) deployed weekly has more than doubled since 2001, adding pressure to an already difficult job, according to an analysis released Thursday by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The GAO cited testimony before the House Armed Services Committee in May by special forces commander Gen. Joseph L. Votel,…

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