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Newer News: August 2013

July 2013 Intelligence News

• DNI Clapper Declassifies and Releases Telephone Metadata Collection Documents, news release, July 31. "In the interest of increased transparency, the Director of National Intelligence has authorized the declassification and public release of the attached documents pertaining to the collection of telephone metadata pursuant to Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act. DNI Clapper has determined that the release of these documents is in the public interest."
• Primary Order for Business Records Collection Under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, declassified FISA Court order, April 25, 2013
• Updated Report on NSA's Bulk Collection Programs for USA PATRIOT Act Reauthorization, declassified report to Congress, February 2, 2011. "The Department and the Intelligence Community jointly prepared the enclosed document that describes these two bulk collection programs, the authorities under which they operate, the restrictions imposed by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the National Security Agency's record of compliance, and the importance of these programs to the national security of the United States."
• Report on the National Security Agency's Bulk Collection Programs Affected by USA PATRIOT Act Reauthorization, declassified report to Congress, December 14, 2009. "The Department has therefore worked with the Intelligence Community to prepare the enclosed document that describes these two bulk collection programs, the authorities under which they operate, the restrictions imposed by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the National Security Agency's record of compliance, and the importance of these programs to the national security of the United States."
• FISA Court Presiding Judge Reggie Walton Replies to Sen. Leahy, July 29. "I am writing in response to your letter of July 18, 2013, in which you posed several questions about the operations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court."
• DNI Clapper Replies to Sen. Wyden on Surveillance Authorities, July 26. "In light of our desire to be transparent with the public about these activities to the extent consistent with national security, I will provide as much information as I can in this unclassified response, which will be accompanied by a classified supplement."
• Holt Introduces "Surveillance State Repeal Act", news release, July 24. "Today Rep. Rush Holt introduced legislation to repeal federal surveillance laws that the government abused by collecting personal information on millions of Americans in violation of the Constitution, as revealed by a federal whistleblower and multiple media outlets last month."
• DNI Clapper: Defunding FISA Business Records program risks dismantling important intelligence tool, ODNI news release, July 24. "As the House of Representatives prepares to vote today on legislation to limit the authority exercised by the National Security Agency pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and court order, I join others who caution that acting in haste to defund the FISA Business Records program risks dismantling an important intelligence tool."
• Math Behind Leak Crackdown: 153 Cases, 4 Years, 0 Indictments by Sharon LaFraniere, New York Times, July 20. "DNI Blair and Attorney General Holder fashioned a more aggressive strategy to punish anyone who leaked national security information that endangered intelligence-gathering methods and sources."
• Judges Say Reporter Must Testify, CIA Spies Can Wear Disguises in Court by Dana Liebelson, Mother Jones, July 19. "A US appeals court has ruled that the First Amendment does not protect New York Times national security reporter James Risen from revealing the sources that gave him information about the CIA's plan to disrupt Iran's nuclear program."
• Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Renews Authority to Collect Telephony Metadata, ODNI news release, July 19. "The DNI has decided to declassify and disclose publicly that the Government filed an application with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court seeking renewal of the authority to collect telephony metadata in bulk, and that the Court renewed that authority."
• Privacy, Technology, and National Security: An Overview of Intelligence Collection by Robert S. Litt, ODNI General Counsel, July 19. "My speech today is prompted by disclosures about two programs that collect valuable foreign intelligence that has protected our Nation and its allies: the bulk collection of telephony metadata, and the so-called 'PRISM' program."
• Military Signals Partial Retreat from Wiki-Secrecy by Adam Klasfeld, Courthouse News Service, July 17. "Despite striking transparency gains in the Bradley Manning court-martial, the U.S. military continues to classify and redact key elements of the young soldier's trial from public scrutiny, observers of the case have said."
• Department of Justice Letter on the "Business Records" Provision of FISA, letter to House Judiciary Committee, July 16. "Under section 215, the Director of the FBI may apply to the FISC for an order directing the production of any tangible things, including business records, for investigations to protect against international terrorism."
• Intelligence Community Backs Off Information Sharing by Bob Brewin, Nextgov.com, July 15. "A recent solicitation issued by the Defense Intelligence Agency suggests the intelligence community has started to back away from developing a common technology architecture to foster information sharing -- a concept officials touted in February prior to revelations that National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden was leaking top secret information to the press."
• Schumer, Israel want secret court less secret by Tom Brune, Newsday, July 13. "A month after leaks revealed that the National Security Agency collects millions of U.S. telephone and Internet records, two federal lawmakers representing Long Island say they want the secret court that OKs spying and surveillance programs to be more transparent and accountable."
• Manning, Snowden and the DOJ's Espionage War Against Leakers by Larisa Epatko, PBS NewsHour, July 12. "Edward Snowden, the former intelligence contractor who leaked top-secret documents about the National Security Agency's surveillance programs, is the eighth person charged by the Obama administration under the 1917 espionage law. Unlike other alleged leakers, Snowden revealed his identity right away and has maintained a highly public profile ever since."
• PCLOB Hearing on Surveillance Under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act and Section 702 of the FISA, Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, July 9. "The board's primary missions are to review and analyze actions the Executive Branch takes to protect the nation from terrorism and ensuring the need for such actions is balanced with the need to protect privacy and civil liberties and to ensure that liberty concerns are appropriately considered in the development and implementation of law, regulations and policies related to efforts to protect the nation against terrorism."
• PCLOB Semi-Annual Report to Legislative Branch, Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, June 28, 2013. "The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (Board) is pleased to submit its first semiannual report, as required by law. This report covers the Board's major activities from September 2012 - the first full month in which a quorum of Board members was appointed and serving through March 2013."
• Snowden case not the first embarrassment for Booz Allen, or D.C. contracting industry by Tom Hamburger and Robert O'Harrow Jr., Washington Post, July 8. "Those incidents had little or no impact on Booz Allen's success in recent years or on its ability to compete for federal contracts, which last year provided 99 percent of the company's $5.8 billion in revenue."
• Secret Move Keeps Bin Laden Records in the Shadows by Richard Lardner, Associated Press, July 8. "The nation's top special operations commander ordered military files about the Navy SEAL raid on Osama bin Laden's hideout to be purged from Defense Department computers and sent to the CIA, where they could be more easily shielded from ever being made public."
• Good news for the NSA: There are 42% fewer new secrets for future Edward Snowdens to leak by Josh Meyer, Quartz, July 3. "One of the reasons former NSA contractor Edward Snowden was able to get away with stealing top-secret documents about government surveillance programs is because Washington's system of classifying national security information is badly broken."
• DNI Clapper Explains His Misstatement to Sen. Wyden, letter to Sen. Feinstein, June 21. "I realized later that Senator Wyden was asking about Section 215 metadata collection, rather than content collection. Thus, my response was clearly erroneous-- for which I apologize."