A new edition of Jeffrey Richelson’s encyclopedic work on “The U.S. Intelligence Community” (Westview Press, July 2011) has just been published. The book provides a uniquely synoptic view of the structure and functions of the massive U.S. intelligence bureaucracy. Descriptive rather than prescriptive, the book serves best as a guide to some of the more […]
Four months after the retirement of the previous director of the Congressional Research Service (CRS), Daniel Mulhollan, no successor has been named. Today, the Library of Congress posted a solicitation on USA Jobs seeking applicants for the position of CRS Director. “A successful candidate for this position should have thorough, substantive knowledge of the Congress […]
Could the unauthorized receipt of classified information be a felony? Judge Leonie M. Brinkema made that startling claim in passing in a July 29 memorandum opinion (pdf) in the case of suspected leaker Jeffrey Sterling that was unsealed yesterday. But her statement is almost certainly a misunderstanding and a misrepresentation of the law. Judge Brinkema’s […]
A newly disclosed opinion (pdf) of the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) concludes that if information gathered in the course of surveillance under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is used to revoke an individual’s security clearance, then that individual is generally entitled to receive notice of the information that was used […]
Recent reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include the following (all pdf). “Federal Support for Academic Research,” June 17, 2011 “Financial Aid for Students: Print and Web Guides,” June 24, 2011 “Patent Reform in the 112th Congress: Innovation Issues,” June 30, 2011 “Congressional Nominations to […]
The Senate Intelligence Committee rejected an amendment that would have required the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence to confront the problem of “secret law,” by which government agencies rely on legal authorities that are unknown or misunderstood by the public. The amendment, proposed by Sen. Ron Wyden and Sen. Mark Udall, was […]
J. William Leonard, the former director of the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) has filed a complaint with the current ISOO director alleging that the National Security Agency wrongly classified a document, which was then used as a basis for the Espionage Act indictment of Thomas Drake, the New York Times reported. See “Complaint Seeks […]
The Faster FOIA Act, a modest bit of legislation to establish a commission “to examine the root causes of FOIA delays,” was introduced and passed in the Senate yesterday. It was previously passed in May, but the resulting bill was amended by the House in order to serve as a vehicle for its debt ceiling […]
A judge ruled on Friday that New York Times reporter James Risen will not have to testify about the identity of a source in the upcoming trial of former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling, who is accused of leaking classified information to Risen. The July 29 court order (pdf) said that Risen must testify only about […]
One of the peculiar features of the prosecution of suspected leaker Jeffrey Sterling is that he is charged with a seemingly unlikely count of “mail fraud.” The government’s contention (in Count Eight of the indictment) is that by leaking information to author James Risen, whose books containing that information were later sent by mail to […]
“The challenges facing LE [law enforcement] increase with the introduction of each new wireless device,” according to a newly disclosed FBI publication (pdf) which traces the development of wireless communications. The publication, entitled “Wireless Evolution”, was prepared by the FBI’s Operational Technology Division and published in Emerging Technologies Research Bulletin in March 2011. A copy […]
July 31st is the 20-year anniversary of signing of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between the United States and the Soviet Union. The treaty, also known as START I, marked the beginning of a treaty-based reduction of U.S. and Soviet (later Russian) strategic nuclear forces after the end of the Cold War. START I […]