Correction: The original headline read that Robert Kobus was a former FBI agent. He is currently employed by the FBI. By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com When Robert Kobus blew the whistle on an FBI supervisor for allowing favorite employees to take off work during their birthday a decade ago, he found himself alone in an…
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The fate of Homeland Security’s budget and President Obama’s immigration plan is in the hands of the U.S. Senate on the final day before money runs out today. The New York Times reports that the Senate is expected to vote today on a measure that would providing funding for the remainder…
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com House Speaker John A. Boehner said he’s “certainly” willing to let Homeland Security shut down at the end of the month. The New York Times reports that Boehner said he won’t budge on a spending bill that would remove funding for President Obama’s immigration policy. “The House has done its job;…
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com A license plate tracking program established to seize cars and money to combat drug trafficking has gone far beyond its original scope and has led to the collection and storage of millions of records about motorists, Reuters reports. Not only is the database being used to track drug dealers, but state…
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com A Republican plan to effectively wipe out President Obama’s new immigration initiatives doesn’t appear to have enough votes, Reuters reports. While the House appears to have the votes to defund the president’s controversial plans, the Senate would need at six Democrats and every Republican to support the GOP plan. That’s not…
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The FBI maintains it does not need a warrant to intercept cell phone devices in public, according to a letter written by Senate leaders, Gizmodo reports. The bureau said it does not plan to get search warrants to intercept mobile devices in public. The interception devices, which include Stringrays, quickly extract…
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Homeland Security has failed on all five of its main missions, according to a scathing oversight report by U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, Fox News reports. “Ten years of oversight of the Department of Homeland Security finds that the Department still has a lot of work to do to strengthen our nation’s…
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The hacking attack on Sony Pictures was so sophisticated and unprecedented that most governments and companies could not have defended against it, Variety reports. An FBI official gave an alarming assessment of the attack to a Senate Committee on Wednesday. “The malware that was used would have slipped, probably would have…
