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“Today the National Security Archive publishes a collection of documents concerning the organization and operations of the Pentagon’s Counterintelligence Field Activity and the TALON/CORNERSTONE database it has maintained. As the Defense Department announced on August 21, today that database will be terminated while work on new procedures for reporting of threats to the Defense Department …
“The General Assembly [September 13, 2007] adopted a landmark declaration outlining the rights of the worlds estimated 370 million indigenous people and outlawing discrimination against them a move that followed more than two decades of debate. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has been approved after 143 Member States voted …
Via EFF – “How National Security Letters Violate Our Privacy: The 26-minute video, also available on DVD, explores the repercussions of the FBI’s power to demand hundreds of thousands of Americans’ private records without any oversight by a court or Congress. Two former Department of Justice (DOJ) officials, Lisa Graves [bio] and Bruce Fein [bio], …
Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Confronting the Terrorist Threat to the Homeland: Six Years After 9/11, September 10, 2007. Witnesses Testimony Michael Chertoff [View PDF], Secretary of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Homeland Security J. Michael McConnell [View PDF], Director of National Intelligence: “If we lose FISA, we will lose, in my …
House Committee on Homeland Security, Turning Spy Satellites on the Homeland: the Privacy and Civil Liberties Implications of the National Applications Office [Links to Witness Statements] Thursday, September 06, 2007 Press release, September 6, 2007: “Committee on Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment Chair …
Press release: “The Congressional Anti-Semitism Task Force will provide insights into the depth and effects of anti-Semitism worldwide…”The Task Force’s primary role is to bring to light specific cases of anti-Semitism and educate Members of Congress, world leaders and citizens about the horrors that these cases pose on society. The task force, the initiative of …
Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, Audit Division: Follow-Up Audit of the Terrorist Screening Center, Audit Report 07-41, September 2007, Redacated for Public Release, (106 pages, PDF) Washington Post: “The government’s terrorist screening database, the master watch list used to scrutinize 270 million people each month, continues to be marred by errors and …
ACLU press release: “A federal court today struck down the amended Patriot Act’s National Security Letter (NSL) provision. The law has permitted the FBI to issue NSLs demanding private information about people within the United States without court approval, and to gag those who receive NSLs from discussing them. The court found that the gag …
Court Permits CIA to Withhold Historic President’s Daily Briefs, But Denies Categorical Exemption for PDBs: “The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals this week held that the disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act of two Presidential Daily Briefs written for President Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s could reveal protected intelligence sources and methods. The …
Remarks of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales Announcing His Resignation, Washington, DC – August 27, 2007 Letter of Resignation President Bush Discusses Resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales AP: “Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ resignation Monday after months of draining controversy drew expressions of relief from Republicans and a vow from Democrats to pursue their investigation …
Washington Post: Terror Suspect List Yields Few Arrests – 20,000 Detentions in ’06 Rile Critics: “The government’s terrorist screening database flagged Americans and foreigners as suspected terrorists almost 20,000 times last year. But only a small fraction of those questioned were arrested or denied entry into the United States, raising concerns among critics about privacy …
The Wall Street Journal today reported that House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff stating the intention to conduct careful oversight over the fall 2007 launch of the National Applications Office (NAO). This program’s use of “spy satellites for domestic homeland security and law enforcement purposes” …
