News Story
As FBI Investigates Shooting Death of Chechen Man in Florida, Bureau Rarely Finds Agents at Fault
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The FBI said it’s vigorously investigating whether an agent was justified in shooting to death a Chechen man in Orlando, Fla., over his ties with the Boston Marathon bombing suspects. The New York Times reports that the FBI investigated 150 shootings by agents between 1993 and 2011 and each time the agent…
Former Spokesman for U.S. Attorney Blasts Feds for Subpoenaing His Documents; Questions Government Going After Client Communications
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Patrick Crosby, a former spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta, blasted the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Francisco for issuing him a subpoena in a case involving an ATF agent. Crosby, who now runs an Atlanta-based media relations company, GeorgiaNewsmakers.com, represents controversial ATF agent Vince Cefalu, who has a…
Alleged Child Molester Arrested One Day After Appearing on “Most Wanted” List
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com A former college professor accused of molesting children is in custody just one day after the FBI placed him on its most wanted list, CNN reports. Walter Lee Williams, who is wanted for alleged sexual exploitation of children, was arrested in Mexico on Tuesday. Williams was the 500th suspect to be placed…
NSA Leader: Government Surveillance Helped Prevent More than 50 Terrorist Attacks
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Top security officials said Tuesday they disrupted more than 50 terrorist plots using government surveillance, The New York Times reports. Trying to fend off fierce criticism about the recent disclosure of government surveillance, national security officers told the House Intelligence Committee that investigators used the private information to prevent terrorist attacks. One…
‘Whitey’ Bulger Accomplice And Hit Man Describes Murders in Alarming Detail at Trial
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com John Martorano, a star witness in the prosecutor’s murder and racketeering case against mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger, described chilling details of killing people, sometimes the wrong ones, The Boston Globe reports. Martorano, a friend-turned-foe of Bulger’s, implicated the mob boss in six slayings in the 1970s on Wednesday and is…
As FBI Digs For Hoffa, Ex-Mobster Zerilli Tries To Sell Autographed Photos
Update: Tuesday, 4 p.m. — Mike Martindale and Candice Williams of the Detroit News report that investigators are shifting focus of the search on a different spot on the site in Oakland Township at Adams and Buell roads after a cadaver dog hit on the location. The News reports the spot isn’t part of a concrete slab…
Ross Parker: The Collision Between Drugs and Environmental Forces in Central America
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 Paker ticklethewire.com Two months ago this column discussed the effect that America’s insatiable appetite for drugs was having on two contrasting Central American nations—violent…
Report: At least 27 Accused Terrorists Prosecuted Under Secret Surveillance Law
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com At least 27 accused terrorists were prosecuted since 2007 using evidence obtained under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Reuters reports. The FISA cases vary from murder to an 18-year-old American trying to join an al-Qaeda-linked group in Syria. As early as today, the U.S. government plans to disclose how many terrorist attacks…