WEEKEND STORIES OF INTEREST

• FBI Serves Terrorism Warrants in Minn. and Chicago (NY Times)
• U.S. Officials Defend State Secrets  Claim in al-Aulaqi Suit (Washington Post)
  

Slain FBI Agent Sam Hicks/fbi photo

The convicted drug dealer whose wife shot and killed a Pittsburgh FBI agent in 2008 during a raid at their home was sentenced Friday in federal court to 25 years in prison, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

The paper reported that Robert Korbe, who pleaded guilty to drug trafficking, gun and insurance fraud charges, faced a mandatory 20-year term, but could have gotten life.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti said Korbe threatened witnesses in his case from jail even after pleading guilty, the paper reported.

Law enforcement agents raided his home in November 2008. Korbe ran in the basement to get rid of cocaine and his wife Christina opened fire from upstairs and shot and killed FBI agent Sam Hicks, the paper reported. She faces charges in the shooting.

Korbe reportedly laughed when learning that the agent had been shot.

John Pistole/dhs photo

WASHINGTON — The Transportation Security Administration, which protects our airports, will be giving more employees secret clearances so they’ll have more access to intelligence, CNN reports.

CNN reports that the number of employees with “secret” clearances will go to 10,000 or one sixth of the agency’s workforce.

TSA Administrator John Pistole, formerly the number two person at the FBI, said the access will give frontline workers more information when trying to stop terrorists, CNN reported.

Pistole, who spoke before a House Homeland Security Subcommittee this week, said “a key lesson I took from my 26 years at the FBI is that one of the best tools we possess in our effort to combat terrorism is accurate and timely intelligence. Our enemies constantly evolve their methods and their tools…and it’s our job to stay ahead of them.”

J. Edgar Hoover/fbi photo

WASHINGTON — Speculation over the lifestyle of J. Edgar Hoover is likely to heat up again as Clint Eastwood prepares to make a film at Warner Bros. on the legendary FBI director.

New York magazine’s website Vulture reports that that actor Joaquin Phoenix “is said to be the director’s top choice to play J. Edgar Hoover’s reputed paramour and protégé, Clyde Tolson.” Leonardo DiCaprio, at this time, is supposed to play Hoover.

In other words, the website is saying Tolson, the associate director of the FBI, will not  only play Hoover’s good buddy, but his lover as well.

For decades now there have been persistent  rumors about Hoover that some insist are simply that — just rumors with no basis or fact.

Still, the site reports: “For those unfamiliar with Tolson and Hoover, they really were the original “Ambiguously Gay Duo”: As the associate director of the FBI from 1947 to 1972, Tolson was in daily close contact with Hoover at the office, but even more interesting, the pair also dined, socialized in night clubs, and even vacationed together.”

“Neither man ever admitted to being gay, and Hoover was known for hunting down and intimidating those who dared questioned his sexual preference while he was alive,” the website reported.

“But Hoover’s actions in death seem to suggest they were more than simply pals in life: When Hoover died, Tolson was not only the beneficiary of Hoover’s life-insurance policy, he also inherited Hoover’s estate and moved into his house.”

By Allan Lengel

Two men have been indicted in Oklahoma on charges of illegally buying weapons including military type semi-automatic rifles and smuggling some into Mexico, authorities announced Thursday.

Gregorio Morales-Martinez, 34, an illegal immigrant from Lewisville, Tex. and Jorge Alexis Blanco, 25, of Stillwater, Ok. were charged with illegally purchasing 43 firearms, including military type semi-automatic rifles.

Authorities alleged that many of the weapons were bought through “straw purchasers” — people who were simply buying the weapons for the men, not for themselves.

Federal law requires each buyer to complete a Firearms Transaction Record (ATF Form 4473) certifying they are the “actual buyer of the firearm.” The form warns that they are not the actual buyer if they’re buying it for someone else.

“The illegal trafficking of firearms from the United States to Mexico is a serious problem,” U.S. Attorney Sanford C. Coats of Oklahoma said in a statement. “It is fueling a lot of the violent drug cartel activity there.”

The case was investigated by ATF.