By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The FBI’s inside source on the FIFA investigation admitted to federal authorities that he took bribes from two countries that wanted to host the World Cup, according to ABC News. The informant, Charles Blazer, an American ex-FIFA executive committee member, pleaded guilty to tax evasion and fraud in 2013. New documents…
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Boston police said they have video that should end any questions about whether law enforcement used appropriate force when they fatally opened fire on a 26-year-old terrorism suspect in his neighborhood Tuesday. The Associated Press reports that Usaama Rahim lunged at a police officer and FBI agent with a military-style knife,…
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The primary target of the widening FIFA investigation has become the organization’s president, Sepp Blatter, the Los Angeles Times reports. Citing two sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, the Times writes that Blatter has become the focus of an investigation into bribery by the soccer’s world governing body. “He’s a…
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The Senate on Tuesday ended the NSA’s controversial bulk phone-records program but reauthorized most of the Patriot Act that expired over the weekend. President Obama signed the measure, which passed the Senate with a 67-32 vote, the Wall Street Journal reports. The FBI warned that the move would hamper agents who…
By New York Times Editorial Board The performance of airport security screeners on a recent investigation by undercover agents was appalling. The screeners failed to detect weapons, mock explosives and other prohibited items 95 percent of the time at airports across the country, which may be a shock to travelers who assumed the hassle of…
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The DEA’s use of wiretaps and other electronic surveillance more than tripled in the past decade, often bypassing courts and federal prosecutors, according to newly obtained records, the USA Today reports. The DEA used electronic surveillance 11,681 times in the last fiscal year, compared to just 3,394 a decade ago. The…
By Owen Boss Boston Herald An armed man in his 20s being surveilled by the FBI counterterrorism unit was shot and killed by an FBI agent and a Boston police officer in Roslindale this morning, according to Boston Police Commissioner William Evans. “He was on foot, under surveillance,” Evans said. “The officers have been…
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The FBI has been operating a fleet of small planes equipped with video and occasionally cell phone surveillance technology, concealing the information from the public by registering the aircraft under fictitious company names, the Associated Press has found. What’s more, the surveillance is often used without a judge’s approval. The AP…
