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SECRECY & THE SECURITY STATE - page 49

DOJ’s Spying Arm Sought Census Records, Documents Reveal

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Newly declassified documents shed light on a disagreement within the Department of Justice over whether or not spies can tap into protected Census Bureau data. According to a 2010 DOJ Office of Legal Counsel memo made public for the first time on Thursday, department lawyers concluded that broad spying powers created by section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act do not trump privacy protections outlined in the Census Act. That legal opinion was released after a several year-long battle between the government and the Electronic…

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White House Responds to Moussaoui Testimony, Still Slow-Walking Declassification of Alleged Saudi-9/11 Link

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Following testimony from a former al-Qaeda operative alleging that members of the Saudi Arabian government both financed and assisted the terrorist organization in planning attacks against the United States, the White House reconfirmed its alliance with the oil-rich monarchy, and refused to embrace transparency that could shed more light on the matter. “The United State and Saudi Arabia maintain a strong counter terrorism relationship as a key element of our broad and strategic partnership,” spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters on Thursday. Earlier this week, the…

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Guantanamo Hearing Reveals Thorny New Legal Issues, Healthcare Crisis

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The aging population of prisoners and the expiration of the 2001 law that authorized the War on Terror are increasing concerns to those overseeing the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, according to a Pentagon official’s congressional testimony. The remarks during Thursday’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing came from Brian McKeon, the Principal Deputy Under Secretary Of Defense For Policy, and run counter to assertions made by administration officials last year who contended that ongoing counter-terrorism activities, including prisoner detention, are legal under the president’s Constitutional…

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Ten Minutes Into Hearing, Future Pentagon Boss Defies Obama

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After only a few questions into his nomination hearing, Ashton Carter made several eyebrow-raising statements that provide ammunition to hawkish conservatives opposed to the Obama administration. Tapped to replace outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, Carter appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday to discuss how he would run the Pentagon. It didn’t take him long to belie one of President Obama’s key talking points. Speaking about “very real dangers” in his opening statements, Carter noted “an ongoing war in Afghanistan.” At the end…

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FBI Continues to Thwart Surveillance Oversight & Whistleblower Retaliation Investigations

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The Department of Justice Inspector General slammed ongoing obstruction by the FBI that he says is making his job more difficult and hindering two whistleblower retaliation investigations. “We continue to face challenges in getting timely access to information from Department components,” testified Michael Horowitz on Tuesday at a House Oversight Committee hearing. Specifically, he said the FBI is withholding from his office documents related to grand jury records, electronic surveillance, and Fair Credit Reporting Act information. Horowitz said that his investigators have eventually received sought-after…

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Feds Abandon Fight to Keep Census Spying Memos Secret

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A several-year effort by the Department of Justice to keep secret a legal memo detailing what security state organs have access to census records is now over, and forthcoming documents should show the extent to which spies abused a sacred, constitutionally-mandated trust. In court documents filed on Thursday, the DOJ dropped its appeal in a multi-year long legal battle against the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group seeking the release, through a Freedom of Information Act request, of opinions on census access from the…

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With Questions Over Publicly-Admitted Size of US Role, Commanders Suddenly Classify Info About Afghan Assistance

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A key oversight watchdog keeping tabs on US activities in Afghanistan is suddenly being stonewalled by military officials in its attempts to inform the public about American assistance to Afghan forces–a military entity in which US troops are playing a bigger role than the White House routinely admits. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said Thursday that it is now “unable” to publicly report on the $65 billion in aid that American taxpayers have given Afghan troops. “After six years of being publicly reported, Afghan National Security…

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McCain Calls Peaceful Protesters “Low-Life Scum”

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A Senate hearing on national security strategy was briefly interrupted by activists protesting the participation of former Secretary of State and accused war criminal Henry Kissinger before committee chair, John McCain (R-Ariz.) lashed out at them in an unusual display of public anger. Members of the group Code Pink, an anti-war organization based in Washington, DC, stood up before the hearing, carrying signs, and calling for war crimes charges against Henry Kissinger. Kissinger was called to testify before the panel alongside fellow former Secretaries of…

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DEA’s “Cold Encounters” May Be the New “Stop & Frisk”

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An anti-narcotic tactic used by the Drug Enforcement Agency on two black women—one of them a Pentagon lawyer—triggered an internal investigation into the practice. Used at train stations and airports to seize drugs and cash, “cold consent encounters” are being conducted without proper oversight or training, the Justice Department inspector general found. The weak checks on the tactic have raised internal concern that it could be used to violate civil rights. “Because of the potential sensitivity of cold consent encounters and searches, effective oversight of…

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Sequestration-Mandated “Sitting Around” a Threat to National Security, Military Brass Claim

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National security officials have repeatedly warned that so-called sequestration cuts pose a threat to the United States, despite the austerity measures leaving the US as the clear dominant military power. On Wednesday, however, they approached their concerns from a different angle. Boys not being able to play with their toys, they said, leaves Americans less up for defending the Homeland. “You’re sitting around the classroom looking at your Strike Fighter Hornet, it looks really great but it’s on the tarmac. And that’s not why you joined,”…

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FBI Agent Slated to Speak with Man Who Thinks C.I.A. Chief is Saudi Agent

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Hoping to prevent yet another “Steve Scalise moment,” a Muslim advocacy group is calling on the FBI to renege on plans to send an official to an “anti-Muslim hate group” event featuring a notorious Islamophobic guest speaker. The event, which is set to be held on Feb. 13 at St. Mary University’s Center for Terrorism, is scheduled to feature a man who thinks that the head of the CIA is a secret Muslim extremist. The symposium is being founded by Brigitte Gabriel, a woman who…

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