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Anonymous Republican Blocks Bill Requiring Email Search Warrants

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Photo Credit: West Midlands PoliceAn anonymous Republican senator has delayed a vote on legislation that would require police to obtain a warrant before accessing emails and other online messages.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) pushed for a vote on the bill before Congress left for its August recess. He secured unanimous support from Democrats, but at least one Republican objected to the bill, according to a Democratic Senate aide.

Leahy had hoped to fast-track the bill to passage with unanimous support, but the opposition means a vote will be delayed until at least September.

A Leahy aide said the senator will continue to work with Republicans to address their concerns. The Senate could pass the legislation without unanimous support, but it would take up valuable floor time to override a filibuster.

It is unclear which Republican or Republicans objected to the bill, S. 607.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obstruction? NSA Says It Can’t Search Its Own Emails

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Photo Credit: George Frey/GettyThe NSA is a “supercomputing powerhouse” with machines so powerful their speed is measured in thousands of trillions of operations per second. The agency turns its giant machine brains to the task of sifting through unimaginably large troves of data its surveillance programs capture.

But ask the NSA, as part of a freedom of information request, to do a seemingly simple search of its own employees’ email? The agency says it doesn’t have the technology.

“There’s no central method to search an email at this time with the way our records are set up, unfortunately,” NSA Freedom of Information Act officer Cindy Blacker told me last week.

The system is “a little antiquated and archaic,” she added.

I filed a request last week for emails between NSA employees and employees of the National Geographic Channel over a specific time period. The TV station had aired a friendly documentary on the NSA and I want to better understand the agency’s public-relations efforts.

Read more from this story HERE.

Anonymous Hacked into Official Congressional Email, Threatens to Compromise Accounts if Congress Doesn’t Act to End Surveillance State

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Photo Credit: GettyHacker posts email addresses, passwords of House and Senate staffers online

By Alex Pappas. A hacktivist associated with Anonymous claims to have posted online thousands of email addresses and passwords for Capitol Hill staffers.

According to a Twitter account that posted a link to the hacked information, House and Senate staffers were targeted in protest of the National Security Agency’s domestic spying program.

“Dear #Congress: We are paying very, very close attention to how you handle #NSA #FISA & #PRISM Don’t.. F**k.. Up….,” Twitter user OpLastResort wrote before posting a link to the email addresses and passwords.

PRISM is the government’s secret data mining program recently revealed by NSA leaker Edward Snowden. FISA refers to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act which deals with electronic surveillance. Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: AFPWhite House stays silent on renewal of NSA data collection order

By Spencer Ackerman. The Obama administration is refusing to say whether it will seek to renew a court order that permits the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of phone records on millions of Verizon customers when it expires at the end of this week.

Officials declined to discuss what action they intend to take about the order at the center of the current surveillance scandal, which formally expires at 5pm Friday.

The looming expiration of the order, issued by the secretive Fisa court, provides an early test of Barack Obama’s claim to welcome debate over “how to strike this balance” between liberty and security. Beyond the question of the phone records collection, the court order authorizing it is a state secret.

On Thursday, the administration would not answer a question first posed by the Guardian six days ago about its intentions to continue, modify or discontinue the Verizon bulk-collection order. The White House referred queries to the Justice Department. “We have no announcement at this time,” said Justice Department spokesman Brian Fallon. The NSA and office of the Director of National Intelligence did not respond to questions.

A spokesman for the Fisa court, Sheldon Snook, said the court “respectfully declines to comment”. Read more from this story HERE.

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NSA chief says leak damage ‘irresponsible and irreversible’

By Catherine Herridge. National Security Agency chief Keith Alexander said Thursday the damage from recently leaked information is “irresponsible and irreversible” because it has given terrorist groups the intelligence community’s “playbook.”

He also described the leaks as “crazy.”

Addressing the Aspen Security Forum, Alexander said the NSA was secretive about its programs out of necessity because the “operatives are among us.”

He added that, based on damage assessments, there is “concrete proof” terrorists now have changed their tactics. Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: gaelxCongress: Anonymous Hack Got Only Old Emails and Passwords

By Ginger Gibson. The hacking group Anonymous published the login information for a constituent contact system used by thousands of congressional staffers, posting addresses and passwords on an online message board, according to a memo sent to Hill staffers.

Anonymous presented the information — when it on Thursday posted more than 2,100 email addresses and passwords, as login data for official congressional email accounts. But in a memo to staff from the Office of the Chief Administrator of the House, officials said the information was actually old login data for iConstituent, which is an online system used to contact voters.

“While this incident did not compromise the House email system, out of an abundance of caution, iConstituent Gateway eNewsletter account holders will be required to change their House network login,” said the memo, which was obtained by POLITICO.

The passwords, some of which belonged to individuals who no longer work for Congress, were expired, according to the memo.

“Earlier today, hackers disclosed expired login information (email addresses and passwords) of numerous iConstituent Gateway eNewsletter accounts outside of the House network,” the memo stated. “These passwords have expired and can no longer be used to access the external iConstituent service.” Read more from this story HERE.

Hastings Sent Colleagues Email About “Big Story,” “Need to Go Off the Radar” Hours Before Fatal Crash

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Photo Credit: KTLA

Photo Credit: KTLA

The crash that killed journalist Michael Hastings was ruled an accident by police, but conspiracy theories continued to circulate on Friday.

Hastings, 33, was killed in a fiery solo-vehicle crash in Hancock Park early Tuesday morning.

He was best known for a 2010 Rolling Stone article that led to the resignation of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who was the former U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan.

Staff Sgt. Joseph Biggs told KTLA that he received an email from Hastings on Monday.

Biggs had known Hastings since 2008, when the journalist was embedded in his unit in Afghanistan. Read more from this story HERE.

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Full Text of Hastings’ Email:

From: Michael Hastings [email redacted]
Date: Mon, Jun 17, 2013 at 12:56 PM
Subject: FBI investigation re: NSA
To: [three emails redacted]

Hey [redacted], the Feds are interviewing my ‘close friends and associates.’ Perhaps if authorities arrive ‘BuzzFeed GQ’, er HQ, may be wise to immediately request legal counsel before any conversations or interviews about our news-gathering practices or related journalism issues.

Also: I’m onto a big story, and need to go off the radar for a bit.

All the best, and hope to see you all soon.

Michael

‘You People are Disgusting’: The ‘NSA Agent’ is Sick of Reading Your Emails (+video)

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Photo Credit: YouTube

Photo Credit: YouTube

With the news that the NSA has been collecting information on the phone calls and Internet communication of all Americans, TheBlaze TV’s comedy show “The B.S. of A.” aired a parody skit of a conversation with “NSA agent” Operative Ned Dossen.

“Speaking of inviting you, I hadn’t even pressed ‘send’ on the email yet,” host Brian Sack told Dossen, played by TheBlaze’s Matt Fisher.

“No need, no need,” Dossen replied dismissively. “Of all the Orwellian bureaucracies, I like to think we give taxpayers the best bang for their buck.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Emails: Democrats Illegally Gerrymandered Florida

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Photo Credit: DWS

Florida Democrats coordinated with national party organizations and consultants in early 2012 to gerrymander congressional districts despite a state ban on such activities, emails obtained by the Washington Free Beacon show.

The top state and national party leaders, including Florida congressmen Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Ted Deutsch, and Alecee Hastings, signed off on the gerrymandered maps, according to the emails released during court discovery in Romo v. Scott, a legal challenge to redistricting maps that the GOP-controlled state legislature approved in 2012.

“For several months the Florida Democratic Party has engaged in a legal fight over redistricting in Florida,” Florida Democratic chair Rod Smith wrote to a representative of the Teamsters Union in March 2012. “We believe that Florida can be turned from red to blue if we are successful in our efforts.”

Democratic consultant Brad Wieneke described the gerrymander in one email chain on Florida’s 23rd Congressional District, which Slate has called the 23rd one of “the most gerrymandered congressional districts” in the country and which Wasserman Schultz represents in Congress.

“They want to scoop as many Jews out of Tamarac and Sunrise as they can,” Wieneke wrote. Redistricting maps produced by Democratic consulting firm NCEC Services were shared with attorneys at Perkins Coie, general counsel for the DNC, the emails show.

Read more from this story HERE.

13,753 Gov’t Requests for Google E-Mail Data in 2012, Most Without a Warrant

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Photo Credit: APAmerican government agencies – state, local, and federal — made a record 13,753 requests to read emails or gather other information sent through Google’s Gmail and other services in 2012, more than half without warrants, according to statistics released by Google.

The total number of users about whom government agencies wanted information also set a record at 31,072, up from 23,300 in 2011, the first year Google began reporting the data. The discrepancy comes because government agencies request information on multiple users or accounts at the same time.

Most of these 13,753 requests, 6,542 of 8,438 in the latter half of 2012 alone, were done without a search warrant, Google data show. Google did not make available any detailed data prior to June 2012, nor did it make available which requests came from the federal government and which came from state or local law enforcement agencies, when asked by CNSNews.com.

Google spokesman Chris Gaither said the company only started tracking which type of legal authority – subpoena, court order, or search warrant – was used in the latter half of 2012. Google issues biannual reports on the requests for user data it receives from government agencies from around the world, including ones in the U.S.

Google announced in June 2012 that it had 425 million active Gmail subscribers, making it the largest e-mail provider in the world. It also provides users the ability to store documents via its Google Drive service, phone service via Google Voice, YouTube, personal blogs via Blogger, as well as email hosting services for corporate clients through Gmail.

Read more from this story HERE.

Emails Show FBI Investigating Sen. Bob Menendez for Sleeping with Underage Dominican Prostitutes

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Documents published online for the first time Thursday indicate that the FBI opened an inquiry into New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez on August 1, 2012, focusing on repeated trips he took to the Dominican Republic with longtime campaign contributor and Miami eye doctor Salomon Melgen. TheDC reported in November that Menendez purchased the service of prostitutes in that Caribbean nation at a series of alcohol-fueled sex parties.

The documents, which The Daily Caller had obtained hours earlier from an anonymous source, also indicate that Carrie Levine, research director at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), was alerted on April 9, 2012 to Menendez’s habit of paying for sex while outside the United States.

ABC News senior investigative producer Rhonda Schwartz was aware as early as May 2, 2012, the documents show, when Levine wrote a source in the Dominican Republic to say that she had “shared your allegations, but not your identities, with a respected, trusted journalist with whom we have worked on other stories.”

In another email two days later, Levine identified that journalist as one who “works for ABC News.” By May 16, Schwartz was emailing Levine’s original source with questions.

Information made available to Schwartz and Levine at that time included allegations that some of Menendez’s prostitutes were as young as 16. The source also alleged that Sen. Menendez was taking “non-authorized trips” to the Dominican Republic, suggesting that he may have been evading Senate Ethics committee rules covering disclosures when third parties pay for a senator’s travel.

Read more from this story HERE.

L.A. Times Attacks Palin Because She Isn’t a Thief, Liar, Pervert or Criminal

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Anyone not convinced of the abject terror Sarah Palin instills in members of the American media needs only read the brief, L.A. Times reflection on the former Governor’s released emails.

A number of media outlets filed Freedom of Information Requests demanding the release of Governor Palin’s emails upon her acceptance of John McCain’s VP offer in 2008. The fact that these self-proclaimed guardians of liberty have yet to exhibit the slightest interest in the murky, personal and political histories of the President or the workings of the Obama White House…well, no doubt there is a very good reason.

Imagine the giddy, Christmas morning type expectations of drooling journalists when 24,000 pages of Sarah’s most intimate, previously private correspondence were dumped on a desk in Juneau by Alaska State officials last Friday.

So certain were these Sherlocks of the airwaves that they finally held the key to Palin’s ultimate destruction, a number of media moguls even advertised for help from viewers/readers to wade through the mass of paper.

But in the end, liberal heads exploded in frustration as Sarah Palin was discovered to be an honest, hard working Governor. No schemes, no criminal enterprises, no racist tendencies, no theft nor lies, no perverse photo attachments or clandestine trysts.

Read More at Coach is Right By Doug Book, Coach is Right

LEFT-LEANING MEDIA OUTLETS WILL MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO READ PALIN’S E-MAILS

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Think you know everything there is to know about former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin? Think again.

Since 2008, Mother Jones‘ David Corn has been actively petitioning for access to and public release of Palin’s e-mails. Following in the footsteps of Corn’s initial request, other media outlets subsequently began formally asking the Alaska government to release the e-mails Palin sent during her term. Mediaite sheds additional light on the scenario:

The state of Alaska initially told Corn that they had located 26,552 pages of emails, but are redacting 2,353 pages for unspecified reasons. Along these same lines, Palin apparently also used a personal email address for some of her official correspondence, and while the Alaskan government recovered some of these by looking through the official inboxes of some top officials, it’s possible that some communication was done among Palin’s personal account and the personal accounts of other State officials.

In sum, 24,199 pages will be presented for public viewing. In fact, Yahoo! reports that “Mother Jones, MSNBC.com and ProPublica“ are preparing to make the documents available for mass consumption ”in a searchable archive.”

In an op-ed for the Anchorage Daily News piece, Paul Jenkins writes that the e-mails may paint Palin in a very negative light:

The emails are going to be — if released in readable form after passing through lawyers‘ hands and being scrubbed by the governor’s office — delicious. There likely will be little good news in them for her. Having read only snippets of emails in Palin staffer Frank Bailey’s book, “Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin,“ or ”Hey, I Got Emails Nobody Else Can Get and I Can Make Some Dough,” the venom, bullying, intimidation, absolute paranoia and craziness of the Palin administration spins off the pages.

What do you think about this? Should Palin’s e-mails be released by major media outlets in a “searchable database?” Once public, the media will surely find appealing tidbits to feature and focus upon for some time to come.

Read More at the Blaze By Billy Hallowell, the Blaze