newswire - page 44

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) ran stings in at least two cities that often relied on teenagers dealing stolen guns, according to the Department of Justice’s Inspector General. The discovery was included in a review of the ATF’s use of undercover storefront operations–establishments masked as retail stores or tattoo parlors, staffed with federal agents looking to gather criminal intelligence and lure illegal activity. At one ATF operation disguised as a clothing store in Wichita, Kan., the DOJ watchdog found that agents relied on…

Keep Reading

The Director of National Intelligence James Clapper informed a spy summit in Washington that US systems are under constant barrage from foreign cyber intruders. The admission comes amid heightened suspicions that Russia was behind high-profile hacks in recent months that targeted political organizations like the Democratic National Committee and statewide electoral systems in Arizona and Illinois. Clapper did not assign Russian culpability to those particular attacks, but spoke broadly on the state of affairs in the cyber realm. “The Russians hack our systems all the…

Keep Reading

Amid a presidential campaign rife with stories about undue foreign influence, the Justice Department is asking Congress to enhance its legal authority to investigate those violating foreign lobbying disclosure laws. The department’s National Security Division “is currently pursuing civil investigative demand (CID) authority from Congress,” according to an inspector general report published Wednesday, specifically to subpoena those believed to be violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). “With regard to potential legislative improvements, NSD officials stated that a major difficulty is a lack of authority to…

Keep Reading

President Obama will not rule out the possibility of the United States conducting a first nuclear strike, keeping intact a policy that has been in place since the Cold War. The New York Times reported Tuesday that Obama won’t attempt to revise the so-called “First Strike” doctrine before leaving office in January 2017. The paper noted he had faced criticism, including some from “former senior aides,” over unfulfilled campaign and first-term promises, to work towards “a world without nuclear weapons.” “For months, arms control advocates have…

Keep Reading

The last remaining cluster munitions maker in the US dropped out of the business ahead of a report showing that the illegal bombs are still being deployed in war zones around the world. In its seventh annual report, the Cluster Munitions Monitor primarily implicated Russia, Syria, and Saudi Arabia for their ongoing use of cluster bombs, which were banned by more than 100 countries in 2008. The report noted, however, that many of the illegal munitions used–particularly in Saudi Arabia’s air campaign against Yemen–were produced…

Keep Reading