Secure Liberties Newsletter
Covering War, Peace, Militarism and Everything in Between
TOP LINE
Chief Author of the SSCI Torture Report to Biden: No Morell (or Other Torture Apologists). Daniel Jones and Scott Roehm drew the line in the sand as Sen. Wyden called Morell a “torture apologist” and a “non-starter.”
Yemen stays a high priority on and off the Hill, with Reps. DeFazio, Biggs, Dingell, Gaetz, Castro, Rooney, Khanna, and Pocan introducing a concurrent War Powers Resolution two weeks ago and over 80 organizations urging President-elect Biden to end U.S. participation in the conflict “the moment you come into office.” The moves come amid international fears that the humanitarian crisis may get much worse, very soon. More below.
Castro and Meeks vie for HFAC Chair as Sherman drops out and labor weighs in, according to Alex Ward of Vox and Axios. The CWA, Teamsters, United Brotherhood of Carpenters, and IFPTE wrote to Speaker Pelosi yesterday urging her to oppose Meeks for, in Axios’s words, “his role in launching the bipartisan Friends of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Caucus” and other pro-corporate trade policies. Castro has racked up endorsements over the past month, including from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Demand Progress Education Fund, Justice Democrats, the Sunrise Movement, and others.
Sens. Paul, Menendez, and Murphy announce resolutions to disapprove $23 billion Arms Sales to the UAE, including F-35 jets, drones, and other weapons systems. Rep. Omar announced she would do the same, and Rep. Castro also announced opposition to the sale. Sen. Blunt confirmed a vote is around the corner.
Apps downloaded by tens of millions are selling our location information to the military, per this groundbreaking report from Vice’s Motherboard. “The most popular app … is a Muslim prayer and Quran app that has more than 98 million downloads worldwide. Others include a Muslim dating app, a popular Craigslist app, an app for following storms, and a ‘level’ app that can be used to help, for example, install shelves in a bedroom.” More below.
ARMS, INTEL, and NDAA
Too close to too late: Yemen in “imminent danger of the worst famine the world has seen for decades,” according to UN Secretary-General Guterres. Fears abound (and appear to have driven the statement from Guterres) that the State Department will soon declare the Houthis a foreign terrorist organization. Guterres urged “everyone” to avoid making “the already dire situation even worse.”
Trump threatens NDAA veto over Section 230, per Politico. Section 230, which many view as key to internet freedom, has become an unexpected lightning rod in recent years, but senior staff were quick to dismiss the idea. Trump previously threatened to veto the NDAA over a provision removing the names of Confederate leaders from Army bases.
US can kill its own citizens without review when state secrets are involved, according to a DOJ lawyer last month. Or, as Judge Millett described it, the DOJ’s argument would give the government the ability to “unilaterally decide to kill U.S. citizens.“
Sanctions questions abound for the incoming administration, which will inherit 3,577 sanctions designations issued by the Trump administration.
Arms Control Association: Iran’s “accumulation of enriched uranium slowed over the past quarter.” Further, “the slower stockpile growth and no indication of new violations suggests Tehran is showing restraint so as not to cross any red lines that might imperil a U.S. re-entry into the nuclear deal….”
SURVEILLANCE
33 Asian American and civil liberties groups oppose and call for amendments to the Senate IAA, arguing that the House may have backed itself into a corner. Specifically, the groups call for the addition of the Lee-Leahy amendment, removal of a mandate for the creation of a social media threat analysis center, and the replacement of a section that would result in the targeting of Asian Americans with a report on protecting civil liberties and civil rights.
DHS is “buying moment-by-moment geolocation cellphone data to track people,” without a warrant, per BuzzFeed News. The report comes after similar reporting from the Wall Street Journal related to CBP and ICE. Sens. Warren, Wyden, Brown, Markey, and Schatz called on the DHS IG to investigate, following a refusal by DHS to provide its legal analysis. Mass surveillance programs, especially relating to records surveillance, have a long history of being initiated without legal review.
Facial Recognition Company Lied to NY School about racist tech, according to documents obtained by Vice. In addition to “a series of Gun Alerts” that were wrongly triggered by broom handles, the Lockport City School District in New York is facing controversy after forking over millions to a company that lied about the severity of its facial recognition system’s bias (as well as NIST’s analysis of that bias).
The Pasco Sheriff’s Office in Florida, meanwhile, is using grades and domestic abuse histories for adolescent pre-crime. We have nothing to add.
RELEVANT, TOO
An FBI fitness app wants your location, full network access, and more — but your first-born may be negotiable. Oh, and subsequent updates could give it more access.
BOTTOM LINE
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