A Public Accountability Defense for National Security Leakers and Whistleblowers
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Assange Case: U.S. Espionage Act Is Illegal, Says John Kiriakou
Assange Case: U.S. Espionage Act Is Illegal, Says John Kiriakou By Edu Montesanti and John Kiriakou Region: USA Global Research, December 05, 2018 Theme: Law and Justice, Media Disinformation While Ecuador is expected to extradite Assange to the US,John Kiriakou, a “reluctant whistleblower” considered the first US intelligence officer to reveal information about the American intelligence community’s use of torture techniques, comments the WikiLeaks’ founder case in the following talk with renowned journalist Edu Montesanti. “The only thing that can saveJulian Assange is jury nullification,” says whistleblowerJohn Kiriakou, a former C.I.A. counterterrorism officer and a former senior investigator with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee based in Virginia, in an exclusive talk to this reporter. ** U.S. Justice Department is acting behind the scenes to have Assange extradited from the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, and prosecuted in the U.S. Criminal charges against WikiLeaks’ founder were accidentally revealed in early November, when Assange’s name was found on the court filing of an unrelated case, suggesting that prosecutors had copied a boilerplate text and forgotten to change the defendant’s name. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kellen S. Dwyer, urging a judge to keep the matter sealed, wrote that “due to the sophistication of the defendant and the publicity surrounding the case, no other procedure is likely to keep confidential the fact that Assange has been charged.” Later, Dwyer wrote the charges would “need to remain sealed until Assange is arrested.” It is much likely that the Australian journalist, who in March 2017 released an archive of documents detailing the C.I.A.’s hacking operations known as theVault 7 leak, is being accused by American prosecutors of violating the 1917 Espionage Act. -
Case 6:12-Cv-01354-MC Document 1 Filed 07/26/12 Page 1 of 8
Case 6:12-cv-01354-MC Document 1 Filed 07/26/12 Page 1 of 8 FILED 26 JUL '12 t3rl31JSDG·OR£ UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT THE DISTRICT OF OREGON EUGENE DIVISION Diane Roark, Plaintiff v. Violations of Constitutional Rights Return ofProperty, Rule 41(g) United States, Defendant. ... oOo ... COMPLAINT Parties 1. Plaintiff Diane Roark, filingpro se, resides in Stayton, Oregon and is a citizen of the United States. 2. The Defendant is the United States, due to actions and omissions by the National Security Agency (NSA), headquartered at Ft. George G. Meade, Maryland, and the Federal Bureau oflnvestigation (FBI) and Department of Justice (DOJ), each headquartered in Washington, D.C. Jurisdiction 3. Plaintiffs property was seized by the FBI from her residence in Stayton, Oregon, in Marion County, which falls under jurisdiction of the Eugene Division. Plaintiff was removed for improper venue from a Rule 41 (g) lawsuit filed by five parties in the United States District Court of Maryland, and was notified that the proper venue in her case is the United States District Court of Oregon. Wiebe et al. v National Security Agency et al., Roark v U.S. 1 ( Case 6:12-cv-01354-MC Document 1 Filed 07/26/12 Page 2 of 8 Civil Case No. RDB-11-3245. Facts 4. Plaintiff was employed at the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and was responsible for oversight ofNSA's operations and budget for the five years before her retirement in April, 2002. Plaintiff was suspected of providing classified government information about "warrantless wiretaps" to the New York Times (NYT), and to NYT reporter James Risen for a book on the same topic, published in December 2005 and January 2006 respectively, and/or to the Baltimore Sun. -
WHISTLEBLOWERS and LEAKERS NEWSLETTER, Series 2, #4, October 3, 2019
-- OMNI WHISTLEBLOWERS AND LEAKERS NEWSLETTER, Series 2, #4, October 3, 2019. https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2019/10/whistleblowers-and-leakers- newsletter-4.html Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, and Ecology http://omnicenter.org/donate/ Series 2 #1 May 18, 2015 http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2015/05/whistleblowers-and-leakers- newsletter.html #2 Aug. 6, 2016 http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2016/08/whistleblowers-and-leakers- newsletter.html #3 Dec. 13, 2018 https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2018/12/whistleblower-newsletter-series-2- 3.html CONTENTS: WHISTLEBLOWERS AND LEAKERS NEWSLETTER, Series 2, #4, October 3, 2019. Reporting in the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Whistleblower, the Newsletter of Government Accountability Project Bravehearts by Mark Hertsgaard Snowden’s New Book, Permanent Record Jesselyn Radack’s memoir Traitor: The Whistleblower and the American Taliban Whistleblowers Thomas Drake and John Kiriakou Army Reserve Captain, Brittany Ramos Debarros Film: War on Whistleblowers: Free Press and the National Security State TEXTS RECENT ARTICLES IN THE NADG. I can’t compare its reporting of wb and leakers to that of other newspapers, but it is reporting these heroes of truth and democracy, and very well it appears at least at this tense moment in time. Here are examples I have gathered recently (and have in a file) in reverse chronological order. Julian Barnes, et al. (NYT). “Whistleblower Said to Seek Advice Early.” 10-3-19. Hoyt Purvis. “Whistle-blower Claims Demand Gutsy Response.” 10-2-19. Plante. (Tulsa World, Editorial Cartoon). “Save the American Whistleblower.” 10-1-19. D-G Staff. “Schiff: Panel Will Hear from Whistleblower.” 9-30-19. -
Case 1:13-Cv-03994-WHP Document 42-1 Filed 09/04/13 Page 1 of 15
Case 1:13-cv-03994-WHP Document 42-1 Filed 09/04/13 Page 1 of 15 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION; AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION; NEW YORK CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION; and NEW YORK CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION, Plaintiffs, v. No. 13-cv-03994 (WHP) JAMES R. CLAPPER, in his official capacity as Director of National Intelligence; KEITH B. ALEXANDER, in his ECF CASE official capacity as Director of the National Security Agency and Chief of the Central Security Service; CHARLES T. HAGEL, in his official capacity as Secretary of Defense; ERIC H. HOLDER, in his official capacity as Attorney General of the United States; and ROBERT S. MUELLER III, in his official capacity as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Defendants. BRIEF AMICI CURIAE OF THE REPORTERS COMMITTEE FOR FREEDOM OF THE PRESS AND 18 NEWS MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR A PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION Of counsel: Michael D. Steger Bruce D. Brown Counsel of Record Gregg P. Leslie Steger Krane LLP Rob Tricchinelli 1601 Broadway, 12th Floor The Reporters Committee New York, NY 10019 for Freedom of the Press (212) 736-6800 1101 Wilson Blvd., Suite 1100 [email protected] Arlington, VA 22209 (703) 807-2100 Case 1:13-cv-03994-WHP Document 42-1 Filed 09/04/13 Page 2 of 15 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF AUTHORITIES .......................................................................................................... ii STATEMENT OF INTEREST ....................................................................................................... 1 SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT…………………………………………………………………1 ARGUMENT……………………………………………………………………………………2 I. The integrity of a confidential reporter-source relationship is critical to producing good journalism, and mass telephone call tracking compromises that relationship to the detriment of the public interest……………………………………….2 A There is a long history of journalists breaking significant stories by relying on information from confidential sources…………………………….4 B. -
Democracy Now!: What the Prosecution of NSA Whistleblower Thomas Drake Is Really About 27.12.16 18:18
Democracy Now!: What the Prosecution of NSA Whistleblower Thomas Drake is Really About 27.12.16 18:18 Buchen Sie hier Ihr Flugerlebnis! flyipilot.de JESSELYN RADACK (/BLOGS/JESSELYN-RADACK) Blog (/blogs/Jesselyn-Radack) Stream (/user/Jesselyn Radack/stream) Democracy Now!: What the Prosecution of NSA Whistleblower Thomas Drake is Really About (/stories/2011/5/18/977111/- ) By Jesselyn Radack (/user/Jesselyn%20Radack) Wednesday May 18, 2011 · 5:06 PM CEST 8 Comments (8 New) (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/5/18/977111/-#comments) ! 25 " 0 # (https://twitter.com/intent/tweet? url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailykos.com%2Fstory%2F2011%2F5%2F18%2F977111%2F- &text=Democracy+Now%21%3A+What+the+Prosecution+of+NSA+Whistleblower+Thomas+Drake+is+Really+About) $ RSS I was just on Democracy Now! (/user/Jesselyn (http://www.democracynow.org/2011/5/18/inside_obamas_orw RECOMMENDED LIST % (/USER/RECOMMENDED/HISTORY) Radack/rss.xml) ellian_world_where_whistleblowing) discussing the prosecution of whistleblower Thomas Drake, who used to be a senior Message to my Trump-supporting Facebook executive at the National Security Agency (NSA). I'm glad friends (/stories/2016/12/26/1614776/-Message-to- TAGS people are finally paying attention to this case, thanks to Jane my-Trump-supporting-Facebook-friends) Mayer's explosive cover story in the New Yorker ! 232 & 146 (/stories/2016/12/26/1614776/-Message-to-my-Trump-supporting-Facebook-friends) #Democracy Now Mommadoc (/user/Mommadoc) (/news/Democracy (http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/05/23/110523fa_fa Now) ct_mayer), -
Six Questions for Jane Mayer, Author of the Dark Side
Six Questions for Jane Mayer, Author of The Dark Side By Scott Horton, HARPER’S, July, 2008 In a series of gripping articles, Jane Mayer has chronicled the Bush Administration’s grim and furtive dealings with torture and has exposed both the individuals within the administration who “made it happen” (a group that starts with Vice President Cheney and his chief of staff, David Addington), the team of psychologists who put together the palette of techniques, and the Fox television program “24,” which was developed to help sell it to the American public. In a new book, The Dark Side, Mayer puts together the major conclusions from her articles and fills in a number of important gaps. Most significantly, we learn the details on the torture techniques and the drama behind the fierce and lingering struggle within the administration over torture, and we learn that many within the administration recognized the potential criminal accountability they faced over these torture tactics and moved frantically to protect themselves from possible future prosecution. I put six questions to Jane Mayer on the subject of her book, The Dark Side. 1. Reports have circulated for some time that the Red Cross examination of the CIA’s highly coercive interrogation regime—what President Bush likes to call “The Program”—concluded that it was “tantamount to torture.” But you write that the Red Cross categorically described the program as “torture.” The Red Cross is notoriously tight-lipped about its reports, and you do not cite your source or even note that you examined the report. Do you believe that the threat of criminal prosecution drove the Bush Administration’s crafting of the Military Commissions Act? Whether anyone involved in the Bush Administration’s interrogation and detention program will be prosecuted is as much a political question as a legal one. -
Intelligence Legalism and the National Security Agency's Civil Liberties
112 Harvard National Security Journal / Vol. 6 ARTICLE Intelligence Legalism and the National Security Agency’s Civil Liberties Gap __________________________ Margo Schlanger* * Henry M. Butzel Professor of Law, University of Michigan. I have greatly benefited from conversations with John DeLong, Mort Halperin, Alex Joel, David Kris, Marty Lederman, Nancy Libin, Rick Perlstein, Becky Richards, and several officials who prefer not to be named, all of whom generously spent time with me, discussing the issues in this article, and many of whom also helped again after reading the piece in draft. I would also like to extend thanks to Sam Bagenstos, Rick Lempert, Daphna Renan, Alex Rossmiller, Adrian Vermeule, Steve Vladeck, Marcy Wheeler, Shirin Sinnar and other participants in the 7th Annual National Security Law Workshop, participants at the University of Iowa law faculty workshop, and my colleagues at the University of Michigan Legal Theory Workshop and governance group lunch, who offered me extremely helpful feedback. Jennifer Gitter and Lauren Dayton provided able research assistance. All errors are, of course, my responsibility. Copyright © 2015 by the Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College and Margo Schlanger. 2015 / Intelligence Legalism and the NSA’s Civil Liberties Gaps 113 Abstract Since June 2013, we have seen unprecedented security breaches and disclosures relating to American electronic surveillance. The nearly daily drip, and occasional gush, of once-secret policy and operational information makes it possible to analyze and understand National Security Agency activities, including the organizations and processes inside and outside the NSA that are supposed to safeguard American’s civil liberties as the agency goes about its intelligence gathering business. -
September 15, 2014 Dear Members of Congress, We, the Undersigned
September 15, 2014 Dear Members of Congress, We, the undersigned civil liberties advocates, organizations, and whistleblowers, are alarmed that Senator Leahy's recently introduced bill, the USA FREEDOM Act (S. 2685), legalizes currently illegal surveillance activities, grants immunity to corporations that collaborate to violate privacy rights, reauthorizes the PATRIOT Act for an additional 2.5 years, and fails to reform EO 12333 or Section 702, other authorities used to collect large amounts of information on Americans. For these reasons, we encourage both the House and the Senate to oppose this legislation in its current form. Governmental security agencies' zeal for collecting Americans' personal information without regard for cost, efficacy, legality, or public support necessitates that Congress act to protect the rights of residents across the United States and around the globe. Our fundamental civil rights – the human rights we hold dear – are not adequately protected by either the Senate or House versions of the USA FREEDOM Act. The reckless actions of top officials charged with ensuring national security – from lying to Congress to secretly weakening security standards to hacking the communications of our allies – has undermined global confidence that the United States can act as an ethical Internet steward. The 11th-hour gutting of the USA FREEDOM Act in the House of Representatives and the CIA’s recent illegal spying on the U.S. Senate underscore just how powerful and out of control this surveillance regime has become. Time and again, these agencies have relied on aggressive manipulation of legal loopholes to thoroughly undermine safeguards and checks and balances. As just one example of why clarity in law is now necessary, the collection of information on all domestic phone calls was justified under the “relevancy” standard in the PATRIOT Act. -
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1 ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION CINDY COHN (145997) 2 [email protected] LEE TIEN (148216) 3 [email protected] KURT OPSAHL (191303) 4 [email protected] KEVIN S. BANKSTON (217026) 5 [email protected] CORYNNE MCSHERRY (221504) 6 [email protected] JAMES S. TYRE (083117) 7 [email protected] 454 Shotwell Street 8 San Francisco, CA 94110 Telephone: 415/436-9333 9 415/436-9993 (fax) 10 TRABER & VOORHEES BERT VOORHEES (137623) 11 [email protected] THERESA M. TRABER (116305) 12 [email protected] 128 North Fair Oaks Avenue, Suite 204 13 Pasadena, CA 91103 Telephone: 626/585-9611 14 626/ 577-7079 (fax) Attorneys for Plaintiffs 15 [Additional counsel appear following the signature page.] 16 17 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 18 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 19 TASH HEPTING, GREGORY HICKS, ) No. C-06-0672-VRW 20 CAROLYN JEWEL and ERIK KNUTZEN on ) Behalf of Themselves and All Others Similarly ) CLASS ACTION 21 Situated, ) ) DECLARATION OF MARK KLEIN IN 22 Plaintiffs, ) SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR ) PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION 23 vs. ) ) Date: June 8, 2006 24 AT&T CORP., AT&T INC. and DOES 1-20, ) Time: 2:00 p.m. inclusive, ) Court: Courtroom 6, 17th Floor 25 ) Judge: The Hon. Vaughn R. Walker, Defendants. ) 26 ) Chief United States District Judge 27 [REDACTED] 28 DECLARATION OF MARK KLEIN C-06-0672-VRW -1- 1 I, Mark Klein, declare under penalty of perjury that the following is true and correct: 2 1. I am submitting this Declaration in support of Plaintiffs' Motion for a 3 Preliminary Injunction. I have personal knowledge of the facts stated herein, unless stated 4 on information and belief, and if called upon to testify to those facts I could and would 5 competently do so. -
New Yorker Launches Online Anonymous Tip System 15 May 2013
New Yorker launches online anonymous tip system 15 May 2013 will be open-source, and we are very glad to be the first to bring it out into the world, fully implemented." Swartz, an activist who committed suicide in January as he faced a potential prison sentence for breaking into a university research database, developed the system with Kevin Poulsen, a former hacker who is now an editor at Wired magazine. The New Yorker said the system was designed to avoid putting media organizations at the center of investigations of news leaks. "Readers and sources have long sent documents to the magazine and its reporters, from letters of complaint to classified papers," Davidson said. The New Yorker magazine is diplayed in an Upper East Side newstand in New York on October 9, 2012. The "But, over the years, it's also become easier to New Yorker magazine on Wednesday unveiled a new trace the senders... Strongbox addresses that; as online system for anonymous whistleblower tips, based it's set up, even we won't be able to figure out on technology developed by the late Internet activist where files sent to us come from. If anyone asks Aaron Swartz and a former hacker. us, we won't be able to tell them." The system aims to encourage the anonymous submission of newsworthy information, in the The New Yorker magazine on Wednesday manner of WikiLeaks and other Internet sites. unveiled a new online system for anonymous whistleblower tips, based on technology developed The Wall Street Journal set up its own tip system in by the late Internet activist Aaron Swartz and a May 2011 called SafeHouse. -
How the Fallout from Post-9/11 Surveillance Programs Can Inform Privacy Protections for COVID-19 Contact Tracing Programs
City University of New York Law Review Volume 24 Issue 1 Winter 2021 How the Fallout from Post-9/11 Surveillance Programs Can Inform Privacy Protections for COVID-19 Contact Tracing Programs Emma Mendelson CUNY School of Law Follow this and additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/clr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Emma Mendelson, How the Fallout from Post-9/11 Surveillance Programs Can Inform Privacy Protections for COVID-19 Contact Tracing Programs, 24 CUNY L. Rev. 35 (2021). Available at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/clr/vol24/iss1/4 The CUNY Law Review is published by the Office of Library Services at the City University of New York. For more information please contact [email protected]. HOW THE FALLOUT FROM POST-9/11 SURVEILLANCE PROGRAMS CAN INFORM PRIVACY PROTECTIONS FOR COVID-19 CONTACT TRACING PROGRAMS Emma Mendelson† INTRODUCTION ................................................................... 35 I. THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION AND THE BROADENED SCOPE OF SURVEILLANCE ................................................................... 38 A. The Law and the NSA .................................................... 38 B. The Wave of Backlash Comes Crashing Down ............. 44 II. NATIONAL SECURITY AND PUBLIC HEALTH SURVEILLANCE DURING COVID-19 ........................................................... 46 A. Background on the Data Changes Since 9/11 .............. 47 B. What Does Surveillance During the COVID-19 Pandemic Look Like? .................................................. 48 C. Emerging Criticisms -
Questioning the National Security Agency's Metadata Program
I/S: A JOURNAL OF LAW AND POLICY FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY Secret without Reason and Costly without Accomplishment: Questioning the National Security Agency’s Metadata Program JOHN MUELLER & MARK G. STEWART* I. INTRODUCTION When Edward Snowden’s revelations emerged in June 2013 about the extent to which the National Security Agency was secretly gathering communications data as part of the country’s massive 9/11- induced effort to catch terrorists, the administration of Barack Obama set in motion a program to pursue him to the ends of the earth in order to have him prosecuted to the full extent of the law for illegally exposing state secrets. However, the President also said that the discussions about the programs these revelations triggered have actually been a good thing: “I welcome this debate. And I think it’s healthy for our democracy. I think it’s a sign of maturity because probably five years ago, six years ago, we might not have been having this debate.”1 There may be something a bit patronizing in the implication that the programs have been secret because we were not yet mature enough to debate them when they were put into place. Setting that aside, however, a debate is surely to be welcomed—indeed, much overdue. It should be conducted not only about the National Security Agency’s (NSA) amazingly extensive data-gathering programs to * John Mueller is a professor of political science at Ohio State University and a Senior Fellow at the Cato Insitute. Mark G. Stewart is a professor of engineering at the University of Newcastle, Australia.