Secure Liberties Newsletter
TOP LINE
New ODNI transparency report reveals other reports “highly misleading,” per this helpful deconstruction by POGO’s Jake Laperruque. Read together with a new FISA Court opinion that revealed dozens of previously undisclosed FBI searches of Section 702 foreign intelligence information for criminal information, the results are damning. Lapperruque also wrote about the FISC opinion at Just Security. Reminder: Section 702 is slated to sunset at the end of 2023. Among other things, the FBI has been fishing for information about community leaders and crime victims.
Reps. Biggs and Jordan demanded answers after that same opinion revealed “apparent widespread violations” of FISA Court-imposed rules governing Section 702 surveillance. Among the violations, most notably including failure to obtain FISA Court approval before searching the data, were 40 queries involving “healthcare fraud” and “public corruption” unrelated to national security.
77% of Americans approve of removing troops from Afghanistan, per a CBS News / YouGov poll. Another YouGove poll by The Economist found 55% approve (vs. 22% disapproving).
Members of Congress condemn recent displacement of Palestinians and call for accountability. Representatives Pocan and Newman are circulating a letter calling on the State Department to exert diplomatic pressure on the Israeli government to prevent the forced displacement of Palestinian families in the Al-Bustan and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhoods and investigate whether US support for Israel violates the Arms Export Control Act and Leahy Laws. Several other members of Congress have made public statements condemning the recent threats to Palestinian families in East Jerusalem.
SURVEILLANCE
As bad as it sounds: DOJ obtained Washington Post journalists’ phone records and tried to get their email records too, over reporting they did on Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election.
Newly revealed CBP contract shows scope of checkbook surveillance via cars. The contract, provided to The Intercept by Mijente, and a related document indicates CBP sought access not only to where the car had been, but to data from devices paired with the vehicle. The contract was for $456,073 with Swedish firm MSAB, which “claims that this data can include ‘Recent destinations, favorite locations, call logs, contact lists, SMS messages, emails, pictures, videos, social media feeds, and the navigation history of everywhere the vehicle has been.’”
Meanwhile, Me2BAlliance found 60% “of school apps were sending student data to a variety of third parties,” in a stunning new report. “On average, each app sent data to 10.6 third-party data channels.” We note both of these stories relate to Sen. Wyden’s newly introduced the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act, which we covered last issue.
Speaking of, Former Rep. Bob Goodlatte and Sen. Mark Udall called for passage of the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act in the Chicago Tribune.
Church n’ Pike-like: Cato’s Pat Eddington obtained examples of FBI “assessments” opened on groups like the Muslim Justice League, the New York chapter of the League of Women Voters, and the Denver chapter of the International Rescue Committee. And they weren’t alone — from 2009-2011, “the FBI opened over 82,325 assessments, of which only 3,315 found information that warranted opening preliminary or full investigations.”
Surveillance after sunset: The New York Times also covered the new ODNI report discussed above, reporting that “about 20” Section 215 orders had been acquired since it sunset on March 15, 2020, relying on a carveout. The Times previously confirmed that such orders can be used to put dragnets around websites. There was also a notable, COVID- and perhaps politics-related drop in FISA targets (2018: 1,833; 2019: 1,059; 2020: 451).
Far right white-supremacist, anti-Muslim, and anti-government incidents “have soared to new highs in the United States,” per a WaPo analysis of new(ish) data from the Center for Strategic and International Studies — and 2020 was the worst year yet (the data goes back to 1994).
ARMS, INTEL, and NDAA
27 organizations sent a letter to President Biden applauding Afghanistan withdrawal. The letter, sent at the end of last month by foreign policy and faith-based groups, highlights the deep costs of the war and encourages Biden to make this a “the starting point for a profound reorientation of our foreign policy away from the overextension of military force and toward sustained diplomacy,” The Daily Poster reports.
Whistleblower who exposed Obama-era drone program thrown in jail before sentencing. Former Air Force intelligence officer Daniel Hale was unexpectedly detained after allegedly violating his pretrial release, though it is unclear what these violations were. Hale recently pleaded guilty to one charge under the Espionage Act for leaking classified information on the US’s drone programs in Afghanistan, Yemen, and Somalia. His whistleblowing formed the basis of an extensive report by The Intercept, which exposed the inner workings of the Obama-era drone assasination complex and revealed a significant number of unintended targets killed in US strikes.
Last minute amendments in a China bill affects U.S. foreign policy everywhere. A small section of the 400+ page Strategic Competition Act of 2021 contains a string of amendments that would vastly expand reporting requirements for “international agreements” and vaguely worded “non-binding instruments.” Ryan Costello explains in Just Security some of the major implications this could have for US diplomatic efforts, especially with Iran. Congressional aides in Democratic offices expressed concern over the process, in which Chairman Menendez and Ranking Member Risch inserted the manager’s amendment hurriedly without giving committee members proper notice.
Reps. Roy and Gallagher introduced a bill to curb executive emergency powers that includes a crucial change from earlier efforts. The bill serves as a House companion to the ARTICLE ONE act that Senator Lee reintroduced in February, which contains sunset clauses and congressional checks over executive emergency powers authorities. But there is one key change from its previous introduction: no carve-out provision for the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which serves as a key basis for far-reaching executive authority to levy unilateral sanctions. Previously, IEEPA was exempted from the bill’s congressional oversight provisions.
RELEVANT, TOO
Huge transparency news: Judge orders DOJ to release OLC memo about Trump obstruction (Also see this good take in The Hill)
Senate NDAA markup won’t happen until July
Exorcising the ghosts of COINTELPRO: Bobby Rush Edition
Steve Vladeck: Trump wanted unlimited power. Biden and Congress can ensure no president gets it (War Powers)
Al Jazeera: Broader US government surveillance powers won’t make us safer
See how Signal responds to subpoenas here
The Justice Department launched a 120-day review into its cybersecurity strategy
Common Dreams: More Domestic Spying Power Is Not the Answer
BOTTOM LINE
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