News Story
Audit: FBI Makes Big Strides in Handling Confidential Informants
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The FBI is doing a better job handling confidential informants after a scathing report in 2006 criticized the agency’s dealings with sources, McLatchy reports. Since the initial report, “the FBI has made substantial changes in its management of confidential human sources.” Concerns were first raised in 2006 when it was discovered that…
Washington Times to Sue After Homeland Security Seizes Notes, Records from Reporter’s Home
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The Washington Times is planning to sue the federal government after armed Homeland Security agents raided the home of a reporter and seized her notes, the newspaper reports. Reporter Audrey Hudson is an award-winning reporter who has exposed problems in the Homeland Security Department’s Federal Air Marshals Service. She said agents seized…
FBI Director Comey Warns of Hundreds of Furloughs if Sequestration Continues
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com FBI Director James Comey warned that he may have to furlough 600 employees if Congress doesn’t restore the bureau’s budget, the Houston Press reports. Comey also said he’d be forced to cut 3,500 jobs. The result could be disastrous, he said, because the bureau will have a more difficult time handling investigations….
Ex-Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi Gets 3 Years in Prison
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Ex-Congressman Rick Renzi of Arizona was sentenced Monday in Tucson to three years in prison for extortion, bribery, insurance fraud, money laundering and racketeering. His co-defendant, James Sandlin, was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison for his role. Renzi, 55, of Burke, Va., and Sandlin, 62, of Sherman, Texx….
Parker: Supreme Court to Decide Who Gets to Define “Mentally Retarded” for Purposes of the Death Penalty
Ross Parker was chief of the criminal division in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Detroit for 8 years and worked as an AUSA for 28 in that office. By Ross Parker ticklethewire.com The cut-off IQ for the death penalty in Florida is 70 or less. Freddie Lee Hall scored a 71. He has been…
FBI, CIA Could Have Prevented Assassination of JFK Had They Heeded Warnings
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The FBI and CIA missed opportunities to prevent the assassination of President John F. Kennedy by not taking seriously enough threats from Lee Harvey Oswald, according to Philip Shenon’s new book, “A Cruel and Shocking Act,” reports the Orland Sentinel. Days before the assassination, the president’s administration found a threatening note addressed…
Did Federal Agencies Miss Chances to Prevent Boston Marathon Bombing? Budget Cuts Delay Answer
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The government shutdown has caused more delays in a high-level investigation into whether federal agencies could have prevented the Boston Marathon bombings, the Boston Globe reports. The furloughs and budget cuts have bogged down inspectors general of four federal agencies who are conducting a wide-sweeping review. Before the budget hurdles, the officials…
President Obama’s Pick For Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Faces Tough Questions
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com To say Alejandro Mayorkas is on the hot seat may be an understatement. President Obama’s pick for deputy secretary of Homeland Security is already under an FBI investigation for allegedly exerting influence to help a political insider with a visa application, the Washington Times reports. According to the Times, he’s also made…