Tag: secrecy

Does the Government Classification System Need Reform?

For decades, presidents and their appointees have misused the classification system to conceal waste, fraud, abuse, and even criminal conduct, failing to properly manage classified federal records generally.

That is why a new bipartisan effort to deal with this major executive branch misuse of power is both remarkable and welcome.

The solution offered by Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-MI) and senior Senate Judiciary Committee and Select Intelligence Committee member John Cornyn (R-TX) is the Classification Reform for Transparency Act of 2024 (S. 4648). If enacted the bill would, for the first time in U.S. history, prohibit an executive branch official from misusing the federal government’s document classification system to hide various forms of misconduct.

When I testified before Chairman Peters’ committee in March 2023, this was among my top three reform recommendations, and I’m deeply grateful Senators Peters and Cornyn have embraced the overarching idea because it’s been badly needed for literally decades. While there are literally dozens of examples to justify such a change in law, just two from the post-9/11 era should suffice to make the point.

As I’ve testified elsewhere, in the days immediately following Al Qaeda’s terrorist attacks on America, then-National Security Agency (NSA) Director General Michael Hayden authorized NSA personnel to intercept all communications between the U.S. and Afghanistan for a 30-day period. There was just one very big problem: under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Hayden had no lawful, unilateral authority to take such action.

Hayden needed to go to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) and get approval for such electronic eavesdropping since it clearly implicated the Fourth Amendment rights of Americans. Instead, he ordered the surveillance anyway and used the classification system to keep his decision from becoming public – a tactic that worked for over four years until the New York Times exposed it in December 2005. That revelation sparked an over two-year battle to make Hayden’s illegal mass surveillance program nominally constitutional (at least in the view of federal courts), which is how we got the controversial and still serially-violated 2008 FISA Amendments Act.

The second example involves Julian Assange and WikiLeaks.

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I Investigated UAPs at the Pentagon—Americans Can Handle the Truth

I’m Luis Elizondo, a former senior intelligence official with the United States government. Currently, I continue to provide advice and assistance to the U.S. government while also publicly advocating for increased transparency and disclosure regarding the topic of UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena).

I was never particularly interested in UFOs or science fiction. My background is in science—I graduated from the University of Miami with majors in microbiology and immunology, with studies in parasitology.

The scientific method has always been one of my core tenets. After my time in the Army, I served as a special agent in counterintelligence, investigating terrorism, espionage, and other serious crimes. I’ve always been a fact and rule-based person.

Early in my career, I worked extensively with advanced aerospace technology, ensuring that it didn’t fall into the hands of our adversaries. I dealt with first-stage solid rocket motor booster engines, advanced avionic systems, and other weapon systems, working with major companies that formed the foundation of my career.

In 2008, I took on a new position at the Pentagon, having left my previous role at the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). I accepted the position since it allowed me to spend more time with my family.

My new role involved integrating national intelligence information and making it accessible to local law enforcement, which was challenging because most local law enforcement agencies don’t have security clearances. After 9/11, it became clear that there had to be a way to share critical information with local agencies without compromising security.

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Tapes confirm The Dossier’s reporting on President Biden’s Las Vegas medical emergency that preceded his departure from Dem nomination

Thanks to the great FOIA work of the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project, we now have the audio tapes that confirm The Dossier’s exclusive reporting on President Biden’s undisclosed medical emergency that took place during his July 15-17 trip to Las Vegas, Nevada.

The audio from the Las Vegas Metro Police Department’s protective detail for President Biden on July 17 provides stunning detail about the mystery incident, which occurred that afternoon following a campaign stop at a Mexican restaurant.

Jennifer Van Laar, who also reported on the incident, verifying with independent police sources (shortly after The Dossier published our report), published the tapes over at Red State.

“For everyone on the radio, right now POTUS is 421 . He's being seen so we're just kinda waiting to see how this is shaping out,” one of the dispatchers said over police radio. “So, for everybody's knowledge, he's 421 right now. We're just trying to figure out what's going on, and we're gonna go from there.”

Another dispatcher announced over the police radio that “Secret Service is requesting a code 3 response.”

In emergency response terminology, code 3 indicates a critical and urgent situation requiring an immediate response and the use of lights and sirens.

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UK MoD sent two intelligence officials to classified Pentagon UFO summit

Two British intelligence officials were sent to a classified international summit about UFOs at the Pentagon, it has emerged, despite the UK Ministry of Defence claiming to have had no interest in the subject since 2009.

The UFO community are convinced that world governments know more than they are letting on about the existence of aliens while governments have taken an interest in examining the phenomenon of UFOs after several unexplained sightings.

On Tuesday Express.co.uk reported that the MOD branded an earlier study by the British military into the potential existence of alien life from UFOs reportedly seen across the country, including by its pilots, a waste of taxpayer’s cash.

The spokeswoman said: “In over 50 years, no sightings of extra-terrestrial intelligence, Unidentified Flying Objects and Unidentified Aerial Phenomena reported to us indicated the existence of any military threat to the United Kingdom.

“It remains more valuable to prioritise MOD resources towards other Defence-related activities. In 2009 the MOD UFO desk was closed because it served no defence purpose and was taking staff away from more valuable defence-related activities.

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Court Rules That the Government Can Hide Its Own Report on CIA Torture

The government investigated itself—and you’re not allowed to see the results. On Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled that the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) doesn’t apply to the Senate’s 2012 report on CIA torture programs. The decision blocks off an avenue to find out what’s in the 6,700-page paper, which the CIA has fought to keep under wraps for more than a decade.

The ruling comes after a small victory for transparency. On Friday, defense lawyers at the Guantanamo Bay military tribunal were allowed to release a photo of their defendant handcuffed and nude at a CIA black site in 2004. Defense lawyers have mentioned the existence of disturbing photos from black sites, but because almost all evidence at the Guantanamo trials is classified, they have never been able to release these photos to the public.

Over the weekend, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin canceled military prosecutors’ controversial plea deal for three accused Al Qaeda members. Their cases may go to trial—which would allow lawyers to uncover more evidence related to the CIA torture program.

The Senate investigation had been prompted by past CIA attempts to cover its tracks. After learning that the CIA had destroyed tapes of prisoners being tortured, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence began an investigation into the CIA’s entire interrogation program. (CIA officer Gina Haspel, who helped destroy the tapes and had personally watched torture sessions, later became CIA director during the Trump administration.)

By 2012, staffers had dug up reams of evidence on CIA malfeasance. They reported not only the specific torture methods, but also that the CIA had tortured innocent people (including a mentally challenged man and two of the agency’s own informants), that CIA leaders had lied to the public and Congress about the program, and that much of the intelligence gained under torture was useless or worse.

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SURPRISE! FBI Declassifies 950 Pages on Suspected Fed Front Group Patriot Front – Nearly Every Page Is FULLY REDACTED

The FBI declassified two packages of documents on the suspected federal front group Patriot Front on Monday.

** The Patriot Front Part 01 document release included 586 pages.
** The Patriot Front Part 02 document release included 364 pages.

After reviewing the documents The Gateway Pundit reporter Anthony Townley found that nearly every page is fully redacted.

The Gateway Pundit has reported on this suspect federal front group numerous times over the past three years.

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How the British were forced to reveal secret files on torture of Kenyan resistance fighters

As the colonial forces were preparing to leave Kenya, in the days leading up to its independence from Britain in 1963, they were given one last order.

Before they left, they took with them crates upon crates of files; the contents of which painted a gruesome picture of the violence and torture they’d inflicted on Kenya’s resistance movement, the Mau Mau.

For decades afterwards, the British government denied the files existed and hid them from the world.

But as a result of the determination of Mau Mau survivors, the truth was eventually forced out. 

“They’re trying to control a narrative, they’re trying to control a perception of how they’re seen,” Kenyan historian Chao Tayiana said.

“There was torture, there was violence and this took place on a mass scale.” 

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ODNI Issues Rare GLOMAR Response to FOIA Request on Five Eyes Alliance UAP-Related Emails

In a recent FOIA release profiled on The Black Vault, researcher Grant Lavac discovered an email referencing the UAP Caucus Working Group. Within this email, a long list of redactions hid every recipient of the message, except one: Brian D. Fishpaugh. This revelation prompted a targeted FOIA request by The Black Vault aimed at uncovering any potential communication related to Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) within Fishpaugh’s email records.

Fishpaugh, who serves as the Deputy National Intelligence Manager for Aviation (NIM-A) within the ODNI, became the focal point of FOIA case DF-2024-00285. The request, filed on June 18, 2024, by The Black Vault, sought emails from Fishpaugh’s inbox that contained various UAP and UFO related keywords, along with those mentioning named individuals (which included alleged “UFO whistleblowers”) connected to the topic.

The objective was to uncover any communication that could shed light on the collaboration and research efforts within the Five Eyes alliance regarding UAPs, or the UAP issue as a whole.

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‘Clearest UFO photo ever seen of creepy spaceship chased by fighter jet’ uncovered

On August 4, 1990, a pair of hikers embarked on a trek through the Scottish Highlands, unaware that they were about to snap what’s been hailed as the ‘clearest UFO photo ever taken’. The photograph, known as the ‘Calvine photo’ after the nearby hamlet where it was snapped, would go missing and become the subject of myth for thirty years.

However, after 13 years of relentless investigation by Professor David Clarke, a former journalist and now academic at Sheffield Hallam University, the elusive image was finally located. Prof Clarke discovered ex-RAF press officer Craig Lindsay, who had retained a copy of the photograph depicting the extraordinary scene the two hikers witnessed.

In the astonishing image, a sizable saucer-shaped craft is distinctly seen, with a jet fighter seemingly in hot pursuit. The hikers originally handed over the photograph to the Daily Record newspaper in Scotland, but it eventually ended up with the British Ministry of Defence, where it remained shrouded in secrecy until 2022.

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Hillary Attorney Marc Elias Backs Mysterious News Site Asking Arizona Regulators to Hide Campaign Finance Disclosures – Site Believed to be Funded by Democrat Super PAC to Promote Democrats

A Marc Elias-backed media organization is asking Arizona regulators to ensure that it is not subject to campaign finance disclosures despite the site’s leftwing tilt, ties to the Democratic party, and promotion of candidates through social media advertisements.

This reporting comes as Trump holds a steady lead over Biden in the state, and Democrats are expected to pull more dirty tricks in another election.

Per Semafor:

Star Spangled Media operates a series of left-leaning websites including the Morning Mirror, a difficult-to-find, barebones blog that for the last few months has periodically published a few unbylined stories about seemingly random topics. Its “About Us” page simply reads: “Welcome to the Morning Mirror—where reliability meets fresh insight. Stay informed with us as we deliver on the matters that impact your life.”

Over the last few weeks, Star Spangled Media has started spending a modest amount to boost Morning Mirror stories on Facebook that tout the pro-abortion rights records of local Democratic candidates running for Michigan House seats.

The site is low on content, but it has the backing of the law firm led by Marc Elias, perhaps the Democratic Party’s best known elections litigator and a central player in 2024’s politics. And Elias’ law firm is moving to ensure the odd blog is treated as a journalistic operation, not a political one.

In a letter to the state’s campaign finance regulator, the Arizona Citizens Clean Election Commission, in late May, Jonathan S. Berkon, an attorney at the Elias Group, asked the state finance regulator to opine on whether the state’s campaign finance law applies to Star Spangled Media. The company’s activities, argued Berkon, do not constitute campaign media spending, and it shouldn’t have to report extensive financial info to state or federal campaign finance regulators.

Similar to this website, Arizona is also home to far-left nonprofit propaganda rag Arizona Mirror, which is funded by the Obama and Soros-tied Hopewell Fund.

While Star Spangled Media and its Morning Mirror are for-profit companies, the parent company does take money in the form of grants “from nonprofit organizations that are interested in funding the type of news coverage that Star Spangled Media undertakes and building an audience for the news coverage via targeted advertising,” Elias attorney Jonathan S. Berkon admits in his letter to the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission.

According to Berkon, these nonprofit grants are “treated like any other revenue derived from a commercial transaction.”

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