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Newer News: June 2013

May 2013 Intelligence News

• The Declassification Engine: Your One-Stop Shop for Government Secrets by Cade Metz, Wired, May 24. "The Declassification Engine seeks to provide a single online database for declassified documents from across the federal government, including the CIA, the State Department, and potentially any other agency."
• How the U.S. Government Hacks the World by Michael Riley, Bloomberg Businessweek, May 23. "The key role NSA hackers play in intelligence gathering makes it difficult for Washington to pressure other nations--China in particular--to stop hacking U.S. companies to mine their databanks for product details and trade secrets."
• Why leaks controversy could linger by Josh Gerstein, Politico, May 23. "Any issue that has both conservatives and liberals lining up with exactly the same question -- did the Obama administration go too far in its zeal to plug the leaks? -- is one that could stay on the scene for a long time to come, especially with so many questions still unanswered."
• Justice Dept Withdraws Glomar Response Concerning Killing of Anwar al-Aulaqi, May 22. "Although that fact had been properly classified, the President has determined that the United States' responsibility for that operation can now be publicly acknowledged."
• Attorney General Holder Letter to Congress on Targeted Killing, May 22. "I am writing to disclose to you certain information about the number of U.S. citizens who have been killed by U.S. counterterrorism operations outside of areas of active hostilities."
• Justice Department's scrutiny of Fox News reporter James Rosen in leak case draws fire by Ann E. Marimow, Washington Post, May 20. "Journalists, First Amendment watchdogs and government transparency advocates reacted with outrage Monday to the revelation that the Justice Department had investigated the newsgathering activities of a Fox News reporter as a potential crime in a probe of classified leaks."
• Orwell on the Potomac: The Justice Department Targets Journalists by Eli Lake, The Daily Beast, May 15. "The Associated Press sent shock waves through Washington when it announced that the Justice Department had obtained phone records for 20 of its reporters as part of an investigation into a leak."
• US Attorney General Holder Grilled in Congress Over Justice Dept. Swoop on AP Phone Records by Marco Werman, The World, May 15. "The leaders of a House panel told Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday that they had serious concerns about the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at The Associated Press."
• DOJ Seizure Of AP Call Logs Unusual In Its Broad Scope by Melissa Block, NPR All Things Considered, May 14. "A recent federal seizure of two months of phone records for Associated Press reporters and editors highlights the aggressive approach the Obama administration has taken to investigating leaks. Melissa Block speaks with Steven Aftergood, who monitors government secrecy as a senior research analyst for the Federation of American Scientists, about how the Obama administration stands out for its rigorous pursuit of leaks."
• AP Responds to Latest DoJ Letter, May 14. "We appreciate the DOJ's prompt response, but it does not adequately address our concerns. The letter simply restates the law and claims that officials have complied with it."
• Letter to Associated Press from Deputy Attorney General James Cole, May 14. "As you know, Department policy provides that we should issue subpoenas for phone records associated with media organizations only in certain circumstances. There should be reasonable grounds to believe that a federal crime has been committed and that the information sought by the subpoena is essential to a successful investigation."
• Holder Defends Subpoena Of Journalists' Phone Logs by Scott Neuman, NPR, May 14. "Attorney General Eric Holder has defended the Justice Department's actions in as part of a probe into leaks of classified material, but said he himself had nothing to do with the subpoena."
• Preventive Measures by Hendrik Hertzberg, The New Yorker, May 20. "The mismatch between the Himalayan haystacks of data and the limitations of the human beings trying to find the needles and read them like tea leaves is matched by the mismatch between the data-surveillance state and the panel charged with taming it. The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board has four part-time members and, as yet, no permanent staff."
• Under sweeping subpoenas, Justice Department obtained AP phone records in leak investigation by Sari Horwitz, Washington Post, May 13. "In a sweeping and unusual move, the Justice Department secretly obtained two months' worth of telephone records of journalists working for the Associated Press as part of a year-long investigation into the disclosure of classified information about a failed al-Qaeda plot last year."
• AP calls government's record seizure a 'massive and unprecedented intrusion' by Michael Isikoff, MSNBC, May 13. "The Justice Department used a secret subpoena to obtain two months of phone records for Associated Press reporters and editors without notifying the news organization, a senior department official tells NBC News, saying the step was necessary to avoid 'a substantial threat to the integrity' of an ongoing leak investigation."
• Why is Obama withholding secret torture report from Americans? by Marcy Wheeler, Salon, May 6. "Much of what you've been told about George W. Bush's supposedly effective torture program is false and overhyped. At least, that's one of the conclusions of the 6,000-page review of the program the Senate Intelligence Committee completed last year. Yet, right now, President Obama is preventing you from learning any of this, by keeping the report classified."
• China Cyberspies Outwit U.S. Stealing Military Secrets, May 1. "QinetiQ's espionage expertise didn't keep Chinese cyber-spies from outwitting the company. In a three-year operation, hackers linked to China's military infiltrated QinetiQ's computers and compromised most if not all of the company's research."