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Intelligence Committees Heavily Rely on Former Spies

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Lawmakers assigned to oversee the sprawling U.S. intelligence apparatus rely strongly on a staff that in recent years has included scores of onetime spooks, analysts and lawyers who previously worked at the spy agencies under scrutiny.

According to a comprehensive analysis by McClatchy, at least one-third, and perhaps far more, of the professional staff members who carry out the work of the House and Senate intelligence committees are themselves veterans of the agencies that the two panels oversee.

That reliance raises questions about how effectively the two oversight committees carry out supervision of a swelling intelligence empire that now employs some 107,000 people with a combined budget projected to reach $78.4 billion next year.

Some national security experts see little problem as long as the spy agencies thwart any repeat of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks – and so far, the agencies have succeeded. Their triumphs are secret, and largely unheralded. (Read more from “Intelligence Committees Heavily Rely on Former Spies” HERE)

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Sun Setting on Daylight Saving Time? States Consider Alternative to Clock-Changing ‘Hassle’

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Daylight savingsLawmakers in 10 states have proposed legislation challenging what, for many, is a twice-a-year headache, and one they just endured again earlier this month. The new bills would mostly have states pick a time … and stay on that time.

“Every time you have the spring forward or fall back, you get in the coffee shops, churches and everybody’s complaining about it and all of a sudden it dawned on me it is kind of a hassle,” said Texas state Rep. Dan Flynn, who proposed a bill that would place the entire state of Texas on central standard time year-round.

Beginning in 1966, every state in the country except Arizona and Hawaii started adjusting their clocks under the Uniform Act that permanently established daylight saving time nationwide. . .

But the practice has been scrutinized since its inception. . .

Proponents of scrapping daylight saving time say it’s generally unnecessary, disturbs sleep patterns and has recently become even more complicated. In 1986, Congress extended daylight saving from a six- to seven-month period and extended it again in 2005 to eight months — mid-March to mid-November. (Read more from “Sun Setting on Daylight Saving Time? States Consider Alternative to Clock-Changing ‘Hassle'” HERE)

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Lawmakers Making Thousands, Funding Lavish Trips from ‘Slush Funds’

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Photo Credit: REUTERSMembers of Congress are routinely using campaign committees as a personal “slush fund,” according to a detailed report by “60 Minutes.”

The report found that lawmakers are using what’s known as “Leadership PACs” to fund trips to high-ranking golf courses, NFL games and other destinations – and are even personally making money off the PACs by lending to them and charging steep interest.

In the most egregious examples, CBS’ “60 Minutes” found that Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Calif., loaned her PAC $150,000 – and made $228,000 over a 12-year period by charging 18 percent interest.

Napolitano admitted to doing it, and an ethics watchdog said the practice is technically legal. In fact, the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington found at least 15 cases where politicians were making loans to their campaign funds.

Napolitano, though, conceded she wasn’t giving campaign donors the details of her personal loan. “Well, you don’t go out and publicize that, but they know that I had a campaign debt,” she said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Lawmakers Blast Guantanamo’s $2.7 Million Per Prisoner Cost

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Photo Credit: JTF GitmoDemocratic lawmakers pushing to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay said on Wednesday its cost has skyrocketed to $2.7 million per inmate this year and argued it is too expensive to keep open while the country is fighting budget deficits.

“This is a massive waste of money,” Senator Dianne Feinstein said during a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing on the base.

Guantanamo has been dubbed the most expensive prison on Earth, and President Barack Obama in May cited its cost – then calculated at about $900,000 per prisoner – as one of many reasons to close it.

Representative Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, testified during the hearing that the current cost of operating the facility has jumped to $454 million in the fiscal year ended September 30, according to the U.S. Department of Defense, or about $2.7 million for each of the 166 inmates.

Smith said overall, $4.7 billion has been spent running Guantanamo since the facility opened in 2002. Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: GettyGuantanamo Bay Prison Divides Senate Panel

By Alexei Koseff. Sharp disagreement over the future of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp dominated the first Senate hearing on the issue in four years.

The meeting Wednesday of a Senate Judiciary Committee subcommittee, held in the wake of a high-profile hunger strike by inmates and renewed calls from President Obama to close the facility, made clear that deep partisan divisions remain over whether keeping the prison open is a threat to national security or a necessity.

Opened at a U.S. Navy base in Cuba in the months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack, Guantanamo was established by President George W. Bush to hold detainees suspected of connections to global terrorism organizations.

Allegations of abuse and torture of inmates have led to repeated calls for Guantanamo’s closure, and Obama has campaigned twice on the issue, though Congress has passed repeated measures to keep the prison open.

Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), who is chairman of the panel, urged Congress to support Obama’s efforts, which would end the indefinite detention of prisoners without trial and either release them or charge them in American courts. Read more from this story HERE.

House Votes to Limit Homeland Security’s Gun Ammunition Buys

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Photo Credit: M. Spencer Green

Lawmakers voted late Wednesday for limits on the amount of ammunition that can be purchased by the Department of Homeland Security.

The measure — a proposal to amend the DHS spending bill — came by way of Republican Rep. Mark Meadows and passed 234-192, The Associated Press reported. The amendment prohibits taxpayer dollars from being sent to DHS for ammunition buys unless the agency first sends a report to Congress detailing its previous like purchases.

The report must also include the agency’s past ammunition usages, AP reported.

Read more from this story HERE.

Lawmakers to Investigate EPA FOIA Scandal

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Photo Credit: dantekgeekRepublican lawmakers are launching an investigation into claims that the Environmental Protection Agency, while giving preferential treatment to environmental groups, made it harder for conservative groups to obtain government records.

“According to documents obtained by the Committees, EPA readily granted FOIA fee waivers for environmental allies, effectively subsidizing them, while denying fee waivers and making the FOIA process more difficult for states and conservative groups,” wrote Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Darrell Issa and Sens. David Vitter, Chuck Grassley and Jim Inhofe in a letter to the EPA.

Citing a report by The Daily Caller News Foundation, Republicans are asking the EPA to hand over all Freedom of Information Act fee waiver requests, responses to requests, and FOIA officer training materials since the beginning of the Obama administration.

Read more from this story HERE.

Bipartisan Group Introduces Tough North Korea Sanctions Bill, as Reclusive Nation Indicts US Tourist

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Photo Credit: APBy Fox News. Republican and Democratic lawmakers in the House are proposing to step up sanctions against North Korea amid growing concern over its nuclear programs as Pyongyang plans to indict an American detained for alleged hostile acts against the country.

The bill, crafted by leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and introduced Friday, would punish companies, banks and governments that do prohibited business with North Korea.

Congressional staffers say it’s intended not only to improve enforcement of existing sanctions, but also to expand them. The bill is modeled on sanctions in force against Iran.

The measure reflects growing concern over North Korea’s nuclear weapon and missile development, and frustration over the failure of U.S. policy to stop it.

The bill was introduced by Reps. Ed Royce, R-Calif., and Eliot Engel, D-N.Y. Its prospects for becoming law are uncertain. Read more from this story HERE.

North Korea to indict American tourist

By Reuters. North Korea said on Saturday a Korean-American tourist, who has been held in prison by the reclusive state since late last year, will face trial for “committing crimes” against the North, a move that could further stoke tensions with the United States.

Kenneth Bae, 44, was in a group of five tourists who visited the northeastern city of Rajin on a five-day trip last November and has been held by police since then.

KCNA, the North’s official news agency, said Bae entered the North on November 3.

“In the process of investigation he admitted that he committed crimes aimed to topple the DPRK with hostility toward it,” the KCNA report said, using the North’s official title of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“His crimes were proved by evidence,” it said, adding he would soon be taken to the Supreme Court “to face judgment”. Read more from this story HERE.

GOP Lawmakers Introduce bill to Help Obama, Buffett Voluntarily Pay More Taxes

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Photo Credit: Daily Caller

Louisiana Republican Rep. Steve Scalise and South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune introduced legislation on Tax Day that would make it easier for wealthy Americans like President Barack Obama and billionaire Warren Buffett to voluntarily pay more in taxes.

White House press secretary Jay Carney recently made it clear the president wishes he paid more in taxes, and Buffett has also advocated for tax hikes on the rich.

“If Warren Buffett and others truly feel like they’re still not paying enough in taxes, they can use this Buffett Rule to put their money where their mouth is and voluntarily send in more to pay down the national debt, rather than raising taxes on hard-working Americans,” Scalise said.

“Liberals in Congress and the White House continue to call for more revenue. Here is their chance, but the only prerequisite is that donations that come from the Buffett Rule Act are strictly voluntary and are used to pay down our massive debt, not to fund more irresponsible spending,” he added.

Americans can already donate more money to the Treasury. Scalise’s and Thune’s legislation, however, would add a box to IRS filing forms to make the process even easier.

Read more from this story HERE.

Lawmakers Demand Army Apologize for Anti-Christian Briefing

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Photo Credit: RedState

At least a dozen members of Congress have signed a letter demanding the Secretary of the Army rescind and apologize for a briefing that labeled Evangelical Christians and Catholics as religious extremist groups, sources on Capitol Hill tell me.

“This is astonishing and offensive,” read a draft of the letter written by Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO). “We call on you to rescind this briefing and apologize for its content and set the record straight on the Army’s view on these faith groups by providing a balanced briefing on religious extremism.”

Lamborn is referring to an Army training session conducted last year that featured a presentation listing Evangelical Christianity and Catholicism as examples of extremism – alongside Al Qaeda and Hamas.

Army spokesman George Wright later said it was an isolated incident not condoned by the Dept. of the Army. And the slide, he said, was not produced by the Army nor did it reflect their policy or doctrine.

“To say that Evangelicals or Catholics are somehow in the same league with Al Qaeda or the KKK is outrageous,” Lamborn told me.

Read more from this story HERE.

Lawmakers Accuse Obama Prosecutors Of Lying About Espionage Probe At NASA

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Photo Credit: AP

Congressional leaders are challenging a U.S. Attorney’s denial that the Justice Department shut down a federal espionage investigation involving the illegal transfer of U.S. space defense weapons technology to foreign countries, including China, The Washington Examiner has learned.

Melinda Haag, the U.S. Attorney for Northern California, also denied that she had ever requested authority to prosecute anybody as a result of the espionage investigation.

But Sen. Charles Grassley, R-IA, and Representatives Lamar Smith, R-TX, and Frank Wolf, R-VA, say Haag’s denials don’t square with evidence they’ve reviewed and they wonder if Justice Department or White House officials interfered with a potentially explosive espionage investigation or if “politics played a role in the prosecutorial decisions made in this case.”

“Your statement conflicts factually with information we received from federal law enforcement,” Wolf, Smith and Grassley said in letters sent today to Haag and Assistant U.S. Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco questioning the abrupt end to an FBI national security investigation and grand jury probe.

At the center of the controversy is cancellation of a national security probe once led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Fry. Frustrating attempts by foreign powers to steal U.S. space weapons technology have long been priorities for the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and NASA’s Inspector General.

Read more from this story HERE.