By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

David Polos, an assistant special agent in charge with the DEA, and Glen Glover,  an information technology specialist with the agency, were convicted Thursday in Manhattan federal court of conspiracy and making false statements by failing to disclose their ownership and involvement operating a New Jersey adult entertainment club.

The conviction followed a two week trial before before U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe.

 “David Polos and Glen Glover had important and sensitive law enforcement jobs that required honest answers to national security clearance forms,”  Manhattan U.S. Attorney Bharara said in a statement. “But as a unanimous jury found today, Polos and Glover lied on those national security forms, concealing their secret jobs owning and operating an adult entertainment club.  Their actions were not just a betrayal of their oaths as DEA employees, but as the jury found, a violation of federal law.”

Authorities said the criminal complaint and evidence in trial established that Polos, who supervised the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Strike Force, and Glover, an expert in sensitive law enforcement techniques who assisted narco-trafficking investigations domestically and abroad, failed to disclose their involvement in operating the  Twins Plus Go-Go Lounge in South Hackensack during a background check to determine their suitability to have access to classified information.  

Polos also  failed to disclose his relationship with a dancer at the club in response to a question about his relationships with foreign nationals, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. The dancer was from Brazil. 

Authorities said the national security forms that Polos and Glover submitted for background checks required disclosure of outside employment, in part due, to concerns that certain types of employment might put them at risk of blackmail.

Former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover is often criticized for his zealous, unconstitutional surveillance of civil rights leaders and suspected communists.

But many people don’t know Hoover fought to protect accused criminals by supporting the Miranda rights.

The Washington Post reports that Hover and his colleagues were integral in the Supreme Court case, Miranda v. Arizona, which established the people the right to remain silent while in police custody.

That made him an unlikely ally of the ACLU – one of his biggest critics.

The Supreme Court decision was made 50 year ago this coming Monday – June 13, 1966.

Hillary Clinton

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The investigation of Hillary Clinton is reportedly centered around e-mail exchanges about CIA drone strikes.

Citing “congressional and law-enforcement officials briefed on the Federal Bureau of Investigation probe,” The Wall Street Journal reports that classified information was shared in a series of emails about drone strikes in Pakistan.

The 2011 and 2012 e-mails involved a secret arrangement that allowed the State Department to oppose specific drone strikes.

Some of the email exchanges were made on less-secure networks, also known as the “low side.”

The Wall Street Journal wrote:

The CIA drone campaign, though widely reported in Pakistan, is treated as secret by the U.S. government. Under strict U.S. classification rules, U.S. officials have been barred from discussing strikes publicly and even privately outside of secure communications systems. The State Department said in January that 22 emails on Mrs. Clinton’s personal server at her home have been judged to contain top-secret information and aren’t being publicly released. Many of them dealt with whether diplomats concurred or not with the CIA drone strikes, congressional and law-enforcement officials said.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

President Obama’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton for president undermines the FBI investigation into the former secretary of state’s use of a private email server, Republicans claim.

Fox News’ Chief Washington Correspondent James Rosen asked the president’s press secretary, Joshua Earnest, whether there was a conflict of interest, Politico reports.

“You have other employees of the executive branch, career prosecutors, FBI agents, working this case who have now just heard how the president wants to see this case resolved, in essence. Isn’t there some conflict there?” Rosen asked Earnest.

“James, there’s not,” Earnest replied. “The reason that the president feels confident that he can go out and make this endorsement and record a video in which he describes his strong support for Secretary Clinton’s campaign is that he knows the people who are conducting the investigation aren’t going to be swayed by any sort of political interference. They aren’t going to be swayed by political forces.”

Earnest continued: “This is the reason that we actually ask career federal prosecutors to take the lead on these kinds of matters,” Earnest continued, responding to a follow-up question from Rosen. “They don’t have political jobs. They have career jobs as law enforcement officers and as prosecutors and investigators. That’s what their responsibility is.”

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., cautioned his colleagues again expanding FBI surveillance powers, sharing a story about his own experience with former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.

“I know we’ve had some wonderful people in our government, but I worry anytime you give a lot of extra powers. There’s always potential for abuse,” Leahy said at a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting, The Intercept reports. 

Leahy said he was a board member of the National District Attorney’s Association when Hoover walked in.

“We were all over six feet tall”— except Hoover, Leahy said. “But we were all looking up at him. The legs of our chairs had been cut off, and his had been built up. He was talking about all these people he had to investigate … [saying] it’s these hippies who are really communists.”

“I’m glad I didn’t have a Volkswagen,” Leahy said, recalling how Hoover identified “hippies” with those particular vehicles.

“I was always having nightmares thinking what would a man like that do with enormous enhanced powers in the digital age. I’m sure you share my concerns, so let’s work together,” he concluded.

Lawmakers are debating the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which has gained criticism because of a controversial amendment that would allow the expansion of national security letters.

Stephen DiSarro

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The FBI has recovered the human remains of South Boston nightclub owner and mob victim Steven A. DiSarro, who has been missing since 1993.

The Boston Herald reports that his body was found buried in the rear of a building Providence on March 31.

The FBI confirmed this week that the remains belonged to DiSarro, who reportedly owed money to the mob before he went missing. He was 43 at the time.

“We’d like to express our sincere thanks and appreciation for all the efforts that went into locating Steven,” DiSarro’s wife, Pamela, said in 
an FBI’s press release. “We look forward to the conclusion of the FBI’s investigation so we can learn as much as possible about what really happened to Steven and finally get some closure for our family.”

It’s unclear who killed DiSarro. Several mobsters have accused each other of the murder.