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SECRECY & THE SECURITY STATE - page 47

Congresswoman Who Called Wikileaks A “Terrorist Website” Set to Retire

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A US Representative who in 2010 called Wikileaks a “terrorist website” is stepping down next year. Candice Miller (R-Mich.), the chair of the House Committee on Administration and the only Republican woman to lead a House committee, announced Thursday that she will not be seeking re-election at the end of the 114th Congress. “None of us know what the future will bring, but I hope God grants me grace to continue to give back to this magnificent place we call Michigan,” she said in a…

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Punished Agent Who Protested FBI Surveillance “Abuse of Power” In Touch With Key Senator

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Just after the Senate Judiciary Committee convened a hearing examining how the FBI handles whistleblower retaliation complaints, new allegations arose that the bureau is punishing another act of conscientious disclosure. “My office has obtained an internal FBI email to a whistleblower,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the committee chair, said Wednesday, at a panel that heard from government watchdogs, Department of Justice officials, and whistleblower advocates. The email Grassley referred to was also received by the Washington Times, which published a story Wednesday morning revealing how…

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Disgraced Spy Chief Escapes Jail Time After Sharing Classified Documents with Mistress

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The former CIA Director and retired commander of US fighting forces in Iraq and Afghanistan will avoid jail time despite pleading guilty to revealing highly sensitive state secrets to a biographer that he was sleeping with, and then lying about the whole matter to FBI agents. David Petraeus admitted to committing one misdemeanor charge of removing and retaining classified information. The prosecution in the case recommended two years probation and a $40,000 fine – hardly a slap on the wrist compared to the punishment meted…

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FAA’s Weak Passwords Put U.S. Airspace at “Unnecessary Risk”

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In the wake of last year’s Sony hack, lawmakers and security contractors have warned that increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks threaten national security, but a government watchdog said that a critical piece of US infrastructure is vulnerable to even the most elementary of malicious actors. The computer systems used by the Federal Aviation Administration to control the nation’s 19,000 airports and 600 air traffic control towers is at risk of “unauthorized access, use, or modification that could disrupt air traffic control operations,” according to a report…

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Senators to Probe FBI over Whistleblower Retaliations Complaints

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After a number of government officials expressed concern with the FBI’s treatment of whistleblowers, Senators on the Judiciary Committee have scheduled a hearing to look into the issue more closely. Titled, “Whistleblower Retaliation at the FBI: Improving Protections and Oversight,” the hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, and will feature testimony from a David Maurer, the Department of Justice’s Director of Homeland Security and Justice Issues, DOJ Inspector General, Michael Horowtiz, and a long-time advocate for whistleblowers, Stephen Kohn, the executive director of the National Whistleblower…

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In Senate Hearing, Lone Questioner on Surveillance Gets Arrested

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When Director of National Intelligence James Clapper came to Capitol Hill to testify on Thursday, only one person bothered to question him about the government’s domestic spying activities – and that person was promptly arrested for it. Just after Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the Armed Services Committee Chairman gaveled the hearing on “worldwide threats” to a close without a single Senator bringing up NSA surveillance activities, Shahid Buttar stood up from the audience and began lobbing questions of his own for the spy chief, and…

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FBI Methods to Confuse, Retaliate Against Whistleblowers Exposed

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The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been misleading employees about how to internally report agency wrongdoing, leaving whistleblowers vulnerable to retaliation. The Government Accountability Office warned of a “chilling effect” on conscientious and quietly outspoken FBI employees in a new report released on Monday. In an examination of Justice Department whistleblower retaliation claims lodged over the course of one year, GAO found on several occasions that the department dismissed complaints because the employee, per official guidelines, had initially reported the abuse incorrectly. “Dismissing retaliation complaints…

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NSA Joins FBI in Fight Against Total Encryption

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The Director of the National Security Agency repeated a dubious claim, previously made by one of the nation’s top law enforcement officers, boasting that American security services can crack a type of increasingly popular encryption without completely undermining the privacy-preserving technique. Speaking at an event hosted by the New America Foundation on Monday, Adm. Mike Rogers was bombarded with questions about new encrypted technology, recently offered by mainstream tech companies like Apple and Google. “Most of the debate that I’ve seen has been it’s all…

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Dems Cheer Arquette, Greet Snowden Doc Oscar With Twitter Wall of Silence

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Like many people all around the world, politicians took to Twitter to broadcast their thoughts about the Oscars, as Hollywood gathered on Sunday night to honor its brightest stars. Although the film industry has no shortage of conservative elements, Democrats, in particular, were active and open about their interest in the gala. Their party, after all, is the primary beneficiary of Hollywood’s largesse. So it came as little surprise that when Patricia Arquette–during her Best Actress award acceptance speech–sounded off on the gender pay gap,…

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White House Unconcerned with Pentagon’s Loose Lips on Mosul Battle Plans

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In order to justify the aggressive prosecution of government insiders who talked to the press—whistleblowers like Chelsea Manning and John Kiriakou–the administration has often used claims that leaking operational details related to military or intelligence matters puts US troops on the battlefield and American interests at risk. In an about-face on Friday, however, the White House was nonchalant the day after an unnamed Pentagon official spilled key operational details about an upcoming military campaign against an Islamic State stronghold. When asked why the Defense Department…

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Ex-CIA Officer Alleging Discrimination Runs Into State Secrets Wall

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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…

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