Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Jeh Johnson’s opposition to President Obama’s decision to unilaterally use warplanes to drop bombs on Libya in June 2011 may have paid off., the Los Angeles Times reports. Johnson was general council at the Defense Department at the time, and advised Obama to get Congressional approval. His advice has won him Republican…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com More than two dozen companies and numerous trade groups are endorsing bills that would open more light on the government’s secret information requests, the Verge.com reports. The businesses and trade groups are showing their support for bills that would allow them to reveal when they receive requests for national security-related data. Among…
Bill Piper The Seattle Times Note: Piper is the director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance This year is the 40th anniversary of the Drug Enforcement Administration. Already plagued by scandals, the agency has recently been revealed to be collaborating with the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency to spy on…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com How prepared is Homeland Security to handle terrorism threats? On the 12th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a Senate panel will ask that question as it examines the department and interviews former lawmakers and past DHS officials, including the first Homeland Security secretary, Tom Ridge, the Washington Post reports. The…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The FBI has acknowledged using surveillance drones on U.S. soil at least 10 times, Al Jazeera America reports. The admission comes after Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., made inquiries after FBI Director Robert Mueller told Congress in June that the bureau had used drones for “limited law enforcement purposes.” According to the disclosure,…
By Ross Parker ticklethewire.com Congress has modified the Miranda rights: You have a right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, an attorney will be appointed to represent you, that is, if he or she is not furloughed, laid off or too busy to pay any attention to you. The initial reaction…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Revelations that the DEA uses NSA data to investigate non-terrorism cases against Americans has prompted a coalition of two dozen civil rights groups to call for congressional hearings, Reuters reports. The call for hearings comes after Reuters revealed that the DEA uses telephone surveillance from the NSA to build criminal cases against…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com U.S. Rep. William Keating touched on a new FBI directive is urging the bureau to share information with local police about terrorist threats, the Boston Herald reports. He wants to talk to the FBI. “That’s news to me,” Keating, a Homeland Security Committee member, said. “If there’s something through these directives and…
