By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The Senate rejected a measure Wednesday that would allow the FBI to search e-mail records and Internet browsing histories of Americans without a warrant.

The USA Today reports the Senate was two votes short of the 60 needed to pass the legislation. The final vote was 58-38.

Last week, the House rejected legislation to ban warrantless surveillance of Americans’ electronic communications.

“In the wake of the tragic massacre in Orlando, it is important our law enforcement have the tools they need to conduct counterterrorism investigations and track ‘lone wolves,’ or (Islamic State)-inspired terrorists who do not have direct connections to foreign terrorist organizations but who seek to harm Americans,” Sen. John McCain said.

But Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said the bill “won’t make our country safer, but it will take away crucial checks and balances that protect our freedom.”

“FBI agents will be able to demand the records of what websites you look at online, who you email and chat with, and your text message logs, with no judicial oversight whatsoever,” Wyden said. “The reality is the FBI already has the power to demand these electronic records with a court order under the Patriot Act. In emergencies, the FBI can even obtain the records right away and go to a judge after the fact. This isn’t about giving law-enforcement new tools, it’s about the FBI not wanting to do paperwork.”

Omar Mateen

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Omar Mateen, the man who opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, frequently used online dating sites seeking both men and women.

CBS News reports that men and women have approached the FBI about having a relationship with Mateen, who was killed in a shootout with police.

One man said he had a two-month sexual relationship with Mateen last year.

“He was very sweet guy, he loved to be cuddled,” said the man in a recorded interview with Univision anchor Maria Elena Salinas that aired Tuesday night. “He had to confess something, that ‘I have a wife’… I asked him ‘does you wife know’ and he said ‘yes she know everything.'”

The man suggested Mateen was likely seeking revenge “for gay Puerto Ricans from when he felt rejected.”

The man added that Mateen’s father was homophobic.

“He told me when his father find out I’m gay, he want to kill me.”

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

A new book claims Hillary Clinton chucked a Bible at a Secret Service agent’s head.

The allegation is just the latest from Gary Byrne, a former Secret Service agent who protected the Clintons in the White House in the 1990s, The Telegraph reports. 

The book, “Crisis of Character” is set to hit the book shelve next week. The author portrays the Clintons as self-serving and disrespectful toward the Secret Service.

Byrne claims agents were assigned to protect Hillary Clinton as “a form of punishment handed down by passive-aggressive middle management.”

“The First Lady had a different sort of liveliness,” he writes. “She once threw a Bible at an agent on her detail, hitting him in the back of the head.”

DEA Administrator Chuck Rosenberg.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The DEA is cracking down on sexual misconduct by its agents by instituting a one-strike policy for agents who solicit prostitutes, even if they are off duty.

The Washington Times reports the DEA also will release an internal report on employees’ bad actions and the punishments they’ve received.

“Solicitation of prostitution on duty or off duty, whether you’re in a jurisdiction where it is legal or illegal, first time offense — removal,” DEA Administrator Chuck Rosenberg said.

In 2012, the DEA discovered that some of its agents had hired prostitutes in Columbia while preparing for President Obama’s visit.