News Story
Sen. Franken Drills Justice Department with Questions about Spy Planes
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Less than a week after the discovery that the FBI was using fictitious names of companies to conceal the use of small planes to spy on Americans, Sen. Al Franken is demanding more information on the surveillance flights, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. The small planes, mostly single-engine Cessnas, were used…
Lawmakers Try to Protect Medical Marijuana Users from Zealous DEA
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The DEA’s defiant crusade against marijuana users may cost the agency a lot of money. Federal lawmakers are considering several proposals that would severally limit the DEA’s ability to arrest marijuana users, the LA Weekly reports. One bill would protect hemp growers and sellers, and another would extend a law designed…
FBI’s Secret Insider Took Bribes from 2 Countries Ahead of World Cup
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…
Boston Police: Surveillance Shows FBI Agent, Officer Under Attack Before Fatal Response
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,…
FBI Focuses FIFA Investigation on Organization’s Leader, Sepp Blatter
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…
Senate Takes Some Muscle Out of Retooled Patriot Act, Worrying FBI
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…
NYT: TSA’s Appalling Performance Is ‘Harbinger of Potential Disaster’
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…
DEA More Than Triples Use of Wiretaps, Other Surveillance Over Past Decade
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…