SECRECY & THE SECURITY STATE - page 43

The number of government workers and contractors holding security clearances dramatically decreased last year—a sign that the US government has limited the number of people with access to secrets in the wake of National Security Agency contractor-turned-whistleblower Edward Snowden’s massive unauthorized public disclosure in 2013. The data, released to Congress by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), shows that roughly 4.5 million people had some form of government security clearance in 2014—a year-over-year decline of more than 600,000 federal employees authorized to…

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The Department of Justice confirmed this month that it currently believes it can seek, in certain instances, to gag officials who want to discuss problems plaguing the FBI with legislative oversight bodies. Responding to questions from Senate Judiciary Committee chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) about an April 2014 DOJ “sanctions proposal [that] could be used to thwart Congressional oversight of whistleblower cases,” Acting Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates said, in testimony for the written record, that the agency can seek “protective orders” prohibiting conversations between whistleblowers…

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A Texas private prison improperly created a restrictive cellblock to house inmates who were agitating for more rights, according to a Department of Justice inspector general report published Thursday. The regime in question—known as “J-unit” at the Reeves County Detention Center in Pecos, Texas—was put into place after inmates at the roughly 2,500 strong holding facility for non-US citizens demonstrated against prison guards in early October 2013. Prisoners had refused to leave their cells in a protest against a lack of “full respect from the…

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The Department of Homeland Security’s deployment of license plate surveillance systems along US border crossings is being carried out with virtually no contracting oversight—a violation of the department’s own policy, according to a watchdog report published Wednesday. In a review of 22 major DHS acquisition programs worth billions of dollars, the Government Accountability Office found that the Land Border Integration (LBI) program, which deploys license plate readers for Customs and Border Protection, continues to grow significantly year-over-year despite operating without proper supervision. “Department leadership has…

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A journalistic outfit that has shed light on a dramatic turn in a multibillion dollar cross-border environmental lawsuit is being shut out of key proceedings that start on Monday in Washington. Courthouse News had asked the Netherlands-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) to attend the roughly three week long “secret tribunal hearings” in a case involving Ecuador and Chevron. “The Parties to this arbitration have not ‘agreed otherwise’,” Martin Doe, the senior legal counsel for the court replied, referring to dispute settlement transparency rules in…

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Internal Bureau of Land Management memos instructed employees during the Bundy Ranch standoff to hide the fact they worked at the agency out of fear they would be targeted by anti-government protestors. The documents, released after a Freedom of Information Act request was filed by the watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, shed light on how BLM dealt with the armed uprising last year. “At this time I recommend keeping a low profile and not to wear anything that says you work for the…

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With a month-and-a-half to go until key post-9/11 surveillance authorities expire, committed National Security Agency reformers are unlikely to succeed in making major changes to the beleaguered spy agency. A compromise bill, similar to legislation narrowly defeated last year, is currently being hashed out to transfer the bulk collection of phone records from the government to the telecom industry—a move that would require the NSA to submit requests for relevant records from private carriers. It could be introduced as early as this week, according to…

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During a hearing focused on reforming the Department of Justice’s civil asset forfeiture regime, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) claimed he had heard from whistleblowers within the US Marshals Service that the agency is abusing confiscated funds. “US Marshals Service is spending asset forfeiture money on lavish office furnishings and facilities, like a $22,000 conference table and a $1.8 million training facility that lies unused nearly eleven months of the year,” Sen. Grassley said. He added that the whistleblowers told him “resources have…

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The US government is loosening its lips about a secret database that prevents tens of thousands of people from boarding airplanes to and from the United States. Under pressure from the courts, the government this week announced new processes that will allow individuals who’ve been placed on the so-called “No Fly List” to inquire about their status. “Under the newly revised procedures, a US person who purchases a ticket, is denied boarding at the airport, subsequently applies for redress through DHS TRIP [the Department of…

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The Department of Justice Inspector General is adding to his list of grievances about his office being obstructed by a law enforcement agency—this time, America’s top drug cops. Michael Horowitz, testifying before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Tuesday, told a familiar story about his inspectors being stonewalled, and denied access to records crucial to their investigations. The complaints come on top of prior lamentations about the FBI engaging in similar practices, and mostly pertain to allegations of sexual misconduct by federal agents…

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Lawmakers in the House look set to advance the mark-up of contentious public-private online data-sharing legislation in the next few days. The House Homeland Security Committee will on Tuesday consider its version of cybersecurity bills in what will be the first of the final efforts to mollify privacy advocates before the hotly-anticipated measures are finalized. It is expected to pass committee before being shuttled to a full House vote next week–a time that Republican leadership has already dubbed “Cybersecurity Week.” The proposal–the National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act–is similar to…

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