Latest in Executive Branch
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Intelligence Reform: Life Imitates Fiction
The Hoover Institution's Task Force on National Security and Law is putting out a series of short essays, starting today, called "The Briefing: Secrecy and Accountability in the Digital Age." Here is the... -
Two Thoughts on the Sanger/Shanker Story on NSA Infiltration of Foreign Networks
David Sanger and Thom Shanker have a lengthy story in the NYT about various NSA techniques for penetrating foreign computers and networks, including a strategy for accessing seemingly air-gapped computer... -
Views from the Judiciary on Possible Surveillance Reforms
Yesterday, U.S. District Judge John Bates sent over two documents----a summary cover letter and a more detailed analysis---to the Senate Intelligence Committee. Delivered in Bates's capacity as the Dire... -
"Overblown" and "Misleading"? The New America Foundation Report on the Role of NSA Surveillance in Preventing Attacks
Since Edward Snowden unveiled the existence of NSA's mass surveillance programs in June, various government officials have gone on the record to claim that the programs have prevented terrorist attacks a... -
Assessing the Review Group Recommendations: Final Thoughts
On Friday, President Obama is scheduled to announce his response to his Review Group on NSA matters, whose report I have been evaluating in this series of posts. The Review Group report covers a huge ran... -
Tinker, Tailor, Leaker, Spy: The Future Costs of Mass Leaks
I just came across this excellent article, "Tinker, Tailor, Leaker, Spy: The Future Costs of Mass Leaks," by David V. -
Assessing the Review Group Recommendations: Part VIII
We come, at endlessly-long last, to the final set of recommendations in the Review Group report: the recommendations in Chapter VIII, which deal with "Protecting What We Do Collect." I tend to agree wit... -
Revealing the Deployment to Somalia: Drawing the Sting Before a Snowden Document Goes Public?
Did the government reveal the presence of US military advisors in Somalia in order to beat the Guardian or some other Snowden outlet to the punch? Earlier today, Jack posted about the likelihood that th... -
Assessing the Review Group Recommendations: Part VII
Chapter VII of the Review Group report is, for the most part, vaporous. It deals with, as its title puts it, "Global Communications Technology: Promoting Prosperity, Security, and Openness in a Networke... -
The Effect of the Proposed Repeal of the 2002 Iraq AUMF
The Washington Post reports that Senator Paul “plans to introduce legislation to repeal the use-of-force resolution that paved the way for the Iraq war,” and notes that President Obama supports the repea... -
Most Snowden Documents Concern Current U.S. Military Operations
One hears that the worst of the Snowden documents (from the perspective of the USG) have not yet been released, and one wonders what that might mean. Yesterday’s story that “most of the documents he too... -
Assessing the Review Group Recommendations: Part VI
Chapter VI of the Review Group Report deals with proposed organizational changes at NSA, in the executive branch more broadly, and in the FISA court system. These changes are a pretty mixed bag. Some see...
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