SECRECY & THE SECURITY STATE - page 50

The federal government confirmed that it is still investigating Wikileaks and has asked the judicial branch to keep its probe secret because of fear over public opinion, according to The Washington Post. US officials have repeatedly sought to fight transparency over the matter because they were embarrassed after the existence of one of its first subpoenas in the case was revealed, the Post reported on Wednesday. Albert Gidari, a lawyer representing Google, told the paper that the tech giant wanted to inform Wikileaks-affiliate and data…

Keep Reading

Tapped to be President Obama’s next Attorney General, Loretta Lynch mostly floated above Senators’ questions during her confirmation hearing on Wednesday. The few times she did speak bluntly, however, revealed her intentions to cater to the security state. The US Attorney in Brooklyn, Lynch appears headed for a swift confirmation as both sides of the aisle on the Senate Judiciary Committee praised her record and personal story, and mostly veered away from direct questioning and contentious debate. In response to the question du jour for…

Keep Reading

Millions of US drivers are having their license plate data scooped up by a federal law enforcement surveillance system that tracks their movements as they buzz along major American highways, according to documents reviewed by the Wall Street Journal. The program, like other domestic surveillance systems revealed in recent weeks, was unknown to lawmakers in charge of overseeing the Justice Department. The documents show that technology used by the Drug Enforcement Agency to track vehicles along the Southern border has proliferated across the country in…

Keep Reading

The coup in Sanaa, and prospects of a new Houthi-led government are unlikely to deter US drone strikes in the country, according to comments made by the administration on Friday. When asked if there is any talk within the White House of pausing its targeted killing program following the forced resignation of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, spokesman Josh Earnest said he was “not aware of any discussions like this.” “This administration remains committed to pursuing a counter terrorism strategy against [al-Qaeda in the Arabian…

Keep Reading

The Transportation Security Administration is under fire from its inspector general for pushing back against revelations the watchdog made about information technology systems. “Over-classification is the enemy of good government,” said John Roth, the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general, in a statement released on Friday. The dispute was sparked by a report released by Roth’s office earlier this month, investigating the security of TSA IT systems at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Before its publication, TSA officials classified some of the…

Keep Reading

A duo of lawmakers who steer the Senate Judiciary Committee are calling on Attorney General Eric Holder to defend new technology in the hands of law enforcement that allows cops to peer inside peoples’ homes without a warrant. “Technology that can essentially look inside peoples’ homes presents privacy concerns of the highest order,” said Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Patrick Leahy (R-Vt.), the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, in a letter to the Attorney General on Thursday. This week, USA TODAY…

Keep Reading

Almost three years after a presidential visit to Colombia resulted in federal agencies disciplining agents for hard-partying, a government watchdog says one department still doesn’t have policies in place to prevent future shenanigans abroad. The Department of Justice “lacks Department-wide policies and training requirements that address off-duty conduct, whether in the United States or foreign countries,” according to DOJ’s inspector general in a report released on Thursday. The investigation into department policies regarding off-duty conduct overseas was prompted following April 2012 incidents in Cartagena. Although…

Keep Reading

Flirting with possible environmental catastrophe and long-term blowback, the US military appears to have shrugged off an initial reticence to strike Syrian oil fields in its war against the Islamic State. A senior State Department official said Wednesday that American forces have hit 200 oil wells in airstrikes since the campaign started last August. The envoy, whose identity was withheld by the Obama administration, made the comment during a teleconference with journalists ahead of an anti-Islamic State coalition meeting in London. A transcript of the…

Keep Reading

The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that only Congress has determined what information is exempt from disclosure under the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA). The high court decided in a 7-2 vote that Transportation Security Administration rules about “sensitive security information” did not trump the WPA protections claimed by a former air marshal, fired for revealing details about post-9/11 flight security plans. Chief Justice John Roberts argued in the majority opinion that the relevant WPA provision on exemptions specifically singles out statutes, while others are more broad. “Congress’s…

Keep Reading

Incoming House Armed Services Committee chair Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) accused military industrial complex critics of failing to grasp “our constitutional system.” Speaking at the American Enterprise Institute on Tuesday, Thornberry said that Congress favoring appropriations over Pentagon wishes in recent years has derived from a straightforward difference of opinion and not “some donor, or some lobbyist, or some parochial interest.” He specifically brought up legislative pushes to allocate more money to the M1 Abrams tank program–financing that the Department of Defense did not want or…

Keep Reading