SECRECY & THE SECURITY STATE - page 6

As expected, the Trump administration announced that it is planning on revoking the status of DREAMers—undocumented residents of the US who immigrated as children, more than a decade ago. Attorney General Jeff Sessions unveiled the decision at a press conference on Tuesday morning, stripping roughly 800,000 people of temporary protection from deportation granted by the Obama administration in 2012. Sessions noted that there would be a “wind down” period, which was previously reported as lasting a half-year. “This will enable [the Department of Homeland Security]…

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The Justice Department will attempt on Friday to defend a warrant requiring an internet host to turn over 1.3 million IP addresses of visitors to a website critical of the Trump administration. Dreamhost, the subject of the DOJ order, called it a “clear abuse of government authority.” The company has been fighting the warrant for months leading up to Friday’s court date on the matter. Federal prosecutors are seeking the IP addresses of anyone who visited disruptj20.org, a website hosted by Dreamhost, as well as the website’s…

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More than $60 billion has been spent by the Pentagon providing arms to the Afghan National Defense and Security Force (ANDSF), according to a review by a government watchdog. Mandated by the 2017 defense policy bill, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) catalogued all the military hardware provided to Afghan police and defense forces since America’s longest running war began back in 2002. The GAO’s findings offer the most detailed glimpse yet into the armaments of the Afghan military. In total, Afghan security forces have received more than 884,000…

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A federal oversight agency examined the latest developments in the Pentagon’s most expensive weapon system, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and found that more cost overruns and technological uncertainties are likely on the horizon. The jet, which has been in development for decades and has yet to see any combat, is currently undergoing modernization efforts projected to cost $3.9 billion, according to the Department of Defense. Known as Block 4, the technological upgrades focus on protecting the F-35 from defense systems and enemy aircraft it may…

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Attorney General Jeff Sessions is turning up the heat on four cities with laws preventing local police from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The lead US prosecutor said on Thursday that he wouldn’t consider the municipalities for a recently announced program until they agree to step up assistance to ICE agents carrying out deportations. The four cities are: Baltimore, Md., Albuquerque, N.M., San Bernardino, Calif., and Stockton, Calif. “By protecting criminals from immigration enforcement, cities and states with so-called ‘sanctuary’ policies make all of…

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A quarterly report published on Tuesday detailed tumult in Afghanistan, amid uncertainty over the Trump administration’s approach to America’s longest-running war. Afghan security forces suffered thousands of casualties in the first few months of this year, according to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). Between January and May, 2,531 were killed and another 4,238 were wounded in action. Although Afghan forces suffered roughly the same number of casualties in the same time frame in 2016, this year’s number involved fewer losses from “planned…

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A now discredited Fox News report claiming that the DNC hack was an inside job carried out by a murdered staffer was pushed to publication by top White House officials, including President Trump, according to court documents filed on Tuesday. Washington, DC private investigator, Rod Wheeler, the plaintiff behind the lawsuit, is alleging that the Trump White House, an ally of the administration, and a Fox News reporter conspired to misquote him in a story published in May about the unsolved murder of former DNC…

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A federal audit had determined that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) uses an unproven test to determine if flyers are potential security threats. TSA agents are trained to look out for 36 indicators that could reveal a traveler’s malicious intent, including how often the individual swallows or how wide their eyes are open. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), however, found that there’s very little scientific evidence to support the TSA’s indicator rubric. “TSA does not have valid evidence that most of the indicators in its revised list…

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The President’s Commission on Election Integrity convened its first meeting on Wednesday in its bid to find rampant voter fraud in our election systems. Since winning the presidency last November, Trump has repeatedly claimed—without evidence—that millions of people voted illegally in the contest. He made similarly dubious comments on Wednesday, suggesting that states not cooperating with his commission might have nefarious intentions. As its first official act, the commission sent requests to all 50 states and Washington, DC last month for voter roll information, including…

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A stunning email thread released by Donald Trump Jr. on Tuesday shows the President’s son saying he “loves” the idea of obtaining incriminating information on Hillary Clinton from the Russian government. The exchange also revealed that Trump Jr. was directly told that the Kremlin supports his father’s candidacy. The existence of the emails contradict the Trump administration’s narrative on Russia, primarily that Moscow was not trying to aid Donald Trump’s candidacy last year, despite the conclusion of the US intelligence community. In the back-and-forth, Trump…

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Christopher Wray is facing a confirmation hearing this week before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he could be pressed on the myriad of conflicts of interest he has racked up as a corporate lawyer. The Office of Government Ethics (OGE) released documents on Monday detailing prior clients of Trump’s pick to head the FBI. According to an ethics agreement, Wray would recuse himself for one year from matters involving his employer, King & Spaulding, and entities under its representation. The firm boasts clients from major companies including…

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