Showing posts with label FBI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FBI. Show all posts

Monday, December 26, 2022

U.S. deep state closely tied to Twitter

Recent Twitter Files revelations show strong links between the U.S. deep state and social media.

Twitter’s top ranks riddled with ex-FBI employees | New York Post - Jon Levine:

December 17, 2022 - "Twitter’s top ranks were riddled with ex-FBI agents and executives, stitching the company even closer to the federal agency now under fire for leaning on Twitter to meddle in the 2020 elections. More than a dozen former feds flocked to the company in the months and years prior to Elon Musk’s purchase of the social network in October. The Post found FBI influence was considerably more significant than just James Baker, the FBI’s former general counsel who later worked in the same role for Twitter.... In some cases, the former G-men and -women held positions that would have put them close to company leadership directly involved in censoring The Post’s Hunter Biden coverage in October 2020.

  • "Matthew Williams spent more than 15 years with the FBI, working mostly out of Seattle, where he served most recently as an intelligence program manager and senior supervisory intelligence analyst. Williams joined Twitter in June 2020 — the same month as Baker — as a 'senior director of product trust,' according to his LinkedIn. In June 2022 he moved into a more expansive position as 'senior director of product trust, revenue policy, counsel systems & analytics at Twitter'.... Williams gave small but consistent amounts to Democrats running for federal office during his years at the company, Federal Election Commission records show.
  • "Dawn Burton, a former federal prosecutor who served as deputy chief of staff to FBI boss James Comey, joined Twitter in September 2019 as director of strategy and operations and counsel organization, according to her LinkedIn and Bloomberg.... As a Comey insider, Burton would have been close to the agency’s Hillary Clinton email investigation as well as its probe into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections. She continued to serve in her role after Comey’s ouster in May 2017 and the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller. She also donated to Democrats. Burton left Twitter in July, before Musk’s takeover, and now works at Google.
  • "Jeff Carlton worked for the FBI, CIA and as an intelligence officer for the US Marines before joining Twitter in May 2021. His now deleted LinkedIn account says he led 'Twitter’s Strategic Response Team of 50+ employees/agents in resolving the highest-profile Trust & Safety escalation,' which served to promote 'healthy public conversations'.... Twitter’s Trust and Safety team was lead by Yoel Roth, the now disgraced former company censor and an architect of the platform’s expansive shadow-banning efforts. During the run-up the the 2020 presidential, Roth had regular meetings with the FBI, which he joked about, according to troves of internal communications recently released by Musk....
  • "Kevin Michelena did more than 12 years as an FBI intelligence analyst before coming to Twitter to work as a 'Senior Corporate Security Analyst' in July 2021. Among his responsibilities were to 'Partner with Software Engineering to create and optimize security products' and 'Collaborate with public policy and site integrity leads to ensure policies are properly implemented, which has mitigated risk to users from identified threat actors,' according to his LinkedIN, which has since been heavily redacted.
  • "Michael Bertrand spent 23 years with the FBI working in counterterrorism, internal investigations and as chief of staff to the agency’s top leaders. He joined Twitter in January. Bertrand, an attorney, was responsible for 'proactively and reactively lead[ing] teams to assess and manage global incidents and crises affecting Twitter’s employees, offices and reputation,' according to his LinkedIN.
  • "Karen Walsh spent more than 20 years at the FBI as a special agent focused on 'Public-Private Sector Outreach.' She joined Twitter as director of corporate resilience in March 2020.
  • "Doug Hunt joined Twitter as a “senior director” after spending 20 years with the FBI as a supervisory special agent. Vincent Lucero also did more than two decades in the same role before joining Twitter in July 2019 as a “Senior Security Manager.”
  • "Mark Jaroszewski became a director of corporate security in August 2018 after doing his own two decades as a supervisory special agent with the FBI. In a 2018 FBI press release the agency noted his job was 'focused on helping the FBI create strategic, mutually beneficial relationships with the private sector.' He also began donating to Democrats after joining Twitter."

Read more: https://nypost.com/2022/12/17/twitter-leadership-full-of-former-fbi-agents-linkedin-records-show/

"‘Twitter Files’ part 9 drops bombshell against the FBI," Fox News, December 25, 2022:


Latest Twitter Files shows CIA, FBI have spent years meddling in content moderation | New York Post - Mary Kay Linge & Jon Levine:

December 24, 2022 - "The CIA has been meddling in Twitter’s internal content moderation for years, according to the latest dispatches from Elon Musk’s 'Twitter Files' — which also revealed “mountains of insistent moderation demands” from the Democratic National Committee.... Two separate threads in the ongoing Elon Musk-sponsored deep dive into the social media’s internal documents were released Saturday by independent journalist Matt Taibbi, documenting how the platform has frequently bowed to government and political pressure. 

"On June 29. 2020, Taibbi shows, the FBI’s Elvis Chan — who has played a starring role in past Twitter Files releases — asked company executives to 'invite an OGA' to an upcoming conference. OGA, or ‘Other Government Organization,’ can be a euphemism for CIA, according to multiple former intelligence officials and contractors,” Taibbi explains. One week later, Stacia Cardille, a senior Twitter legal executive, made the link explicit. 'I invited the FBI and the CIA virtually will attend too,' Cardille wrote to her colleague — and former FBI chief counsel — James Baker on July 8, 2020. 'No need for you to attend.' Baker, one of dozens of ex-FBI agents and executives in Twitter’s ranks at the time, was fired this month for interfering in Musk’s effort to reveal the company’s past transgressions.

"From that point, Taibbi writes that 'regular meeting[s] of the multi-agency Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF)' — attended by Twitter and 'virtually every major tech firm [including] Facebook, Microsoft, Verizon, Reddit, even Pinterest, and many others' — had “FBI personnel, and – nearly always – one or two attendees marked "OGA".' 'Meeting agendas virtually always included, at or near the beginning, an ‘OGA briefing,’ usually about foreign matters,' Taibbi writes.

"Through the FITF, US intelligence tasked Twitter analysts with laborious investigations into domestic Twitter accounts alleged to have nefarious foreign connections, the documents reveal — ramping up as the 2020 presidential election approached, but continuing through 2022. Twitter content monitors analyzed users’ IP data, phone numbers and even weighed whether user names were 'Russian-sounding' to confirm the government’s accusations – but often failed to do so."

Read more: https://nypost.com/2022/12/24/latest-batch-of-twitter-files-shows-cia-fbi-involved-in-content-moderation/

Thursday, December 22, 2022

Alleged RCMP spy gets bail after 3 years in jail

RCMP official accused of breaching Canada's secrecy law released on bail | CBC News:

December 21, 2022 - "After three years behind bars awaiting trial, Cameron Ortis, the RCMP official accused of breaching Canada's secrecy law, has been released on bail.Justice Robert Maranger presided over the bail review and delivered his decision in Ontario Superior Court on Wednesday. The reasons behind his decision and the evidence and testimony heard in court during the review hearing are all covered by a publication ban.

"Ortis, who served as director general of the RCMP's national intelligence co-ordination centre, is charged with violating the Security of Information Act. He is accused of trying to share sensitive information with a foreign entity or terrorist organization and also has been charged with sharing operational information in 2015. Ortis was briefly released on bail and ordered to live with his parents in Abbotsford, B.C., in October [2019; see Background - gd], before his bail was revoked. He's been in custody ever since.

"Ortis is scheduled to go to trial in October 2023."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ortis-bail-decision-rcmp-1.6693469

Background

Alleged RCMP spy Cameron Ortis ordered back to jail pending trial | CBC News - Catherine Tonney:

November 8, 2019 - "Today, Ontario Superior Court Justice Marc Labrosse revoked the 47-year-old's bail, ordering the head of RCMP's national intelligence co-ordination centre back into custody. Labrosse's reasons and the details of the Crown's review application are covered by a publication ban, along with the evidence and submissions heard during the bail hearing.

"Ortis was released on bail to his parents' care in Abbotsford, B.C. on Oct. 22. He was forbidden from using any device that connects to the internet and told to report to an RCMP detachment every week. The court heard the Crown's application for a bail review last week. It was granted."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cameron-ortis-rcmp-spy-espionage-1.5353144

"The smartest guy in the room: Cameron Ortis and the RCMP secrets scandal" - The Fifth Estate, CBC, December 8, 2020: 

How a high-stakes gambler set authorities on the trail of accused Canadian spy Cameron Ortis | CBC News - Scott Anderson, Andrew Culbert, Bob McKeown:

December 7, 2020 - "A high-stakes American gambler who is an FBI informant and goes by the nickname Robin Hood 702 played a key role in a series of events that eventually led the RCMP to charge their head of intelligence, Cameron Ortis, with leaking secrets. R.J. Cipriani, whose nickname incorporates the 702 Las Vegas area code, built his reputation by winning money in casinos and donating much of it to worthy causes. 

"But in 2011, he was asked to gamble money in Australia by former U.S. college football player Owen Hanson.... [F]earing he was being drawn into criminal activity, he went to the FBI. That led to Hanson being charged and convicted of drug trafficking.... Police discovered six encrypted cellphones Hanson had purchased from Richmond, B.C.- based Phantom Secure, a company the RCMP had been investigating for allegedly supplying encrypted technology to organized crime. The FBI then joined with the RCMP and Australian police in an investigation of Phantom Secure. Ortis is alleged to have offered Phantom Secure secret information.

"In March 2018, the FBI arrested Phantom Secure CEO and founder Vincent Ramos in Washington state. Federal police in Australia also raided several locations and seized more than 1,000 Phantom Secure cellphones. In Canada, the RCMP executed search warrants on Ramos's home and business addresses in British Columbia, but it is still unclear what they seized. It appears the RCMP information to obtain the warrants has been sealed. 

"At the time of the Ramos arrest and raids, the RCMP said little about the case and it received scant media attention in Canada. But that changed 18 months later when the RCMP arrested their own intelligence chief, Cameron Ortis, in part for allegedly leaking operational information to Ramos."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cameron-ortis-rcmp-spy-espionage-1.5353144

Thursday, April 14, 2022

No convictions in Whitmer kidnapping trial

Jury Acquits 2 Men Accused of Plotting To Kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer | Reason - Robby Soave:


Gretchen Whitmer, 2019. Wikimedia Commons

April 8, 2022 - "In what should serve as a major blow to the credibility of federal law enforcement agents, a district court jury acquitted two men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. The jury deadlocked on the charges against two other defendants, and it's not clear whether prosecutors will seek to retry them, according to The New York Times.... 

"This is an embarrassing outcome for both the FBI — which had relied on a vast network of informants that were extensively involved in planning and even encouraging the plot — as well as Whitmer herself, who treated the plot with utter seriousness.... 

"In reality, Whitmer was never in actual danger; 'Big Dan,' the ringleader of the alleged plot, contacted law enforcement early on, and the FBI paid him $54,000 to conduct six months of surveillance on a loose network of militia members who were upset with Whitmer's aggressive COVID-19 lockdown policies. When the group staked out Whitmer's house, it was Big Dan leading the effort — with the FBI's foreknowledge and encouragement. 

"At the same time, Big Dan's FBI handler, a man named Jayson Chambers, was attempting to start a side business as a security consultant; he thus had every incentive to construct a major domestic terrorism bust that he could take credit for foiling. 

As The Times reported:

No attack ever took place and no final date for an abduction was set, testimony showed, and the details of the alleged plan sometimes differed from witness to witness. The F.B.I. informant, Dan Chappel, said he believed the group planned to kill Ms. Whitmer.... Ty Garbin, the man who earlier pleaded guilty in the case, said he thought the group of men might abandon the governor in a boat in the middle of Lake Michigan. Another man who pleaded guilty, Kaleb Franks, said he had hoped to die in a shootout with the governor's security detail.

"'There was no plan to kidnap the governor, and there was no agreement between these four men,' Joshua Blanchard, a lawyer for Mr. Croft, said in closing arguments. He said the government tried to conjure up a conspiracy by using a network of informants and undercover agents, and that 'without a plan, the snitches needed to make it look like' there was movement toward a plan.

"The FBI ... has a long history of engaging in entrapment: i.e., inducing people to plan crimes that they had no intention of carrying out. The victims of these prosecutions have often been Muslims, though right-wing groups are also a common target.... It appears that the jury possessed reasonable and well-justified doubt that the there was ever any actual plot to kidnap Whitmer, despite the FBI's attempts to manufacture one."

Read more: https://reason.com/2022/04/08/gretchen-whitmer-kidnapping-plot-acquittal-fbi/

Friday, March 4, 2022

FBI encouraged, directed Whitmer kidnapping plot

The Gretchen Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Looks an Awful Lot Like Entrapment | Reason - Robby Soave: 

January 26, 2022 - "The militia members who allegedly plotted to kidnap Michigan's Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer because of her COVID-19 lockdown policies will go to trial in just a few weeks. Six were charged in connection with the plot, and one of them has already pleaded guilty and is expected to testify against the rest. State authorities charged eight others with aiding a terrorist plot.

"But the government's case against these 14 alleged extremists relies on work done by at least a dozen government informants and undercover FBI agents whose extensive involvement in the plot calls into question whether it would have moved forward at all without the government's prodding. Some of these government actors took lead roles in organizing the supposed plot — one of the informants was even paid $54,000 by the FBI. Taken together, these and other details raise the strong possibility that the militia members were victims of entrapment....

"The FBI Investigation Into The Alleged Plot To Kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Has Gotten Very Complicated," conceded BuzzFeed News in an in-depth examination of the available evidence published last month. And earlier this week, The New York Times acknowledged that the involvement of informants and agents had 'muddled' the case:

On a rainy night in northern Michigan in September 2020, a group of armed men divided among three cars surveyed the landscape around the vacation cottage of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, considering how to kidnap her as payback for her Covid-19 lockdown measures.... 
Later, after team members returned to the rural camp where they had already conducted military-style training exercises, a man identified as "Big Dan" in government documents asked the assembled group, "Everybody down with what's going on?" Another man responded, "If you are not down with the thought of kidnapping, don't sit here."
Of the dozen men on that nighttime surveillance mission, four of them including "Big Dan" were either government informants or undercover F.B.I. agents, according to court documents.

"'Big Dan' was no passive spectator: After initially alerting the authorities that he was involved in a Facebook group for militia members in which violence against police officers had been discussed, he agreed to become an informant. The government paid him $54,000 for six months' work. When the militia group surveilled Whitmer's vacation home, it was Big Dan leading the charge. According to the group's defense attorneys, Big Dan — an Iraq War veteran — took charge of training the other men in military tactics....

"Big Dan's FBI handler, Jayson Chambers, ... was attempting to build a security consulting business in the midst of the investigation.... BuzzFeed obtained a resume that Chambers had shared with prospective clients, and in that document, he took credit for using 'online undercover techniques' to investigate terrorist groups. According to BuzzFeed, Chambers has a long history of participating in FBI investigations of Muslim youths who were enticed by law enforcement to become involved in wholly theoretical violent plots, according to their defense attorneys. Chambers is no longer slated to participate in the trial. Another government asset, Stephen Robeson, worked as an informant during the investigation, but is no longer involved after pleading guilty to various felonies. And the government's star witness, FBI Agent Robert Trask, was fired by the agency after beating his wife.... 

"The court may determine that none of this matters.... Historically, victims of entrapment have had a tough time prevailing, no matter how duplicitously the FBI behaved. But in any case, it is now clear that Whitmer was in no real danger. At all stages of the alleged plot, the FBI was aware of every facet: Their agents and informants were intimately involved — not just surveilling the militia members, but actively offering guidance on how to pull off the kidnapping.... 

"Many conservatives have become committed to the idea that the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was not the work of Trump supporters, but rather, elements of the so-called Deep State.... The Whitmer kidnapping plot ... was extensively directed and encouraged by agents of the government. It's a much, much, much, much more persuasive case of Deep State nefariousness."

Read more: https://reason.com/2022/01/26/gretchen-whitmer-kidnapping-plot-entrapment-fbi-trial/

Thursday, January 6, 2022

Did FBI have role in Capitol riot? AG won't say

RAY EPPS: Mystery Man from Queen Creek and the January 6th Capitol Riot | Liberty First

January 5, 2022 - "The January 6th Capitol riot is a blot on the Republican Party and former President Donald J. Trump. What started as a legitimate protest turned ugly. How that happened and why incursions into the Capital began even before Trump had finished speaking, remain a mystery. But ... [t]he Congressional hearings are sadly being conducted more like [a] Soviet show trial, with the guilt of those already determined.... Thus, this proceeding is unlikely to find the truth about who was leading the crowd to break the law.  It is doubtful they are even looking....

"That is where our mystery man from Queen Creek comes into play. Ray Epps is seen in multiple videos firing up the crowd and urging them to enter the Capitol.  These facts cannot be disputed. But so far, he has escaped prosecution.  He has not been mentioned by the [U.S.] mainstream media.... 

"No news organization to date has done more work on the subject than Revolver News.  They ran a long article (Part I) on the role of Mr. Epps in October and elements of that first article were featured in the Tucker Carlson three-part series on Fox Nation.  Now they have come out with Part II.  The role of Ray Epps may prove critical.... If Epps turns out to have been some kind of government operative, which at present is the only clean and simple explanation for his immunity, it is game over for the official 'MAGA insurrection' narrative of 1/6. Epps was the day’s loudest riot recruiter and its apparent leader of the very first breach of Capitol grounds....

"We urge readers to click the links provided and read both Part I and Part II. Revolver News is to be commended for both their curiosity and their diligence.  Still, we would like to see a more complete investigation into the origins and coordination of the 'insurrection'. If our own government was heavily involved in this, we not only need to know as citizens, history needs to know."
Read more: https://libertyfirst.org/ray-epps-mystery-man-from-queen-creek-and-the-january-6th-capitol-riot/

EXCLUSIVE: Pictured on his tranquil Arizona ranch and wedding venue, the ex-Marine accused of being an 'FBI plant sent to help incite January 6 Capitol riot' refuses to answer to right-wing conspiracy theory | Daily Mail - Greg Woodfield: 

December 28, 2021 - "Epps, 60, [is] the former president of the largest chapter of far-right anti-government militia group the Oath Keepers and was seen in video urging supporters to 'go into the Capitol' on the day of the deadly insurrection. He was also spotted in footage at the first barrier to fall to rioters as it was breached at 12:50pm. And he was named Suspect 16 when the FBI published images in its Capitol Violence Most Wanted list of people to identify two days after the insurrection.... 

Courtesy Revolver News

"However, ... some right-wing quarters [are] speculating ... that he was sent out to help incite the riot on behalf of the federal government. Some ... hypothesize that the motive was to frame Trump supporters as domestic terrorists. There is no evidence that Epps, who was a sergeant in the military, ever entered the building himself on that fateful day and he was never arrested in connection with the storming.

"DailyMail.com located the veteran at his Rocking R Farms wedding and hospitality business.... When we arrived at the property in Queen Creek, 30 miles southeast of downtown Phoenix, to give him an opportunity to confront the extreme speculation, he bluntly refused to discuss it. He told us: 'Get off my property'. As we endeavored to further explain, he repeated: 'Get off my property'....

"Epps – who was quickly identified from the January wanted list - was highlighted again in October's House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing of the Department of Justice, when the FBI theory went mainstream. U.S Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) showed video clips of Epps repeatedly encouraging protestors on the streets of DC to 'go into' the Capitol. Massie linked Epps to his question asking Attorney General Merrick Garland if the government sent agents or assets to 'agitate' protestors into entering the building. Garland said the Justice Department does not comment on pending investigations. [01.47 on video]

"In the first video played to the committee, Epps is seen in the street on January 5 saying: 'In fact tomorrow, I don't even want to say it because I will probably be arrested. Tomorrow we need to go into the Capitol.' [00.37] On the same day, he is recorded saying: 'I'm going to put it out there. I'm probably going to go to jail for it, OK? Tomorrow, we need to go into the Capitol. Into the Capitol…peacefully.' At that point some in the crowd clearly believe he is a plant and begin to chant: 'Fed! Fed! Fed!' [00.42] 

"The following day, Epps can be seen in another clip dressed in military-style clothing and yelling to a crowd: 'OK folks, spread the word. As soon as the president is done speaking, we go to the Capitol, where our problems are.' Pointing behind him, he adds: 'It's that direction. Please spread the word.' [01.03] Shortly afterwards he is seen approaching police barricades holding back chanting protestors. He put his hands on the shoulders of a man in a red MAGA hat and then cups his hands to speak in the man's ear. [00.18] Moments later the man and protestors suddenly topple the barriers and some fight with police. The man in the hat, later identified as Ryan Samsel, is being held in custody on charges of unlawfully entering the Capitol and assaulting a law enforcement officer....

"The most dramatic interpretation of the FBI-plant accusation has so far come from right-leaning blog Revolver. The site is run by former Trump speechwriter Darren Beattie, who was fired after appearing on a panel with a white nationalist. It claims the fact Epps was never arrested and that his details were removed from the FBI wanted list in July without any action against him ... brands him a 'Fed-protected provocateur'.... At one point the blog ... says: 'Ray Epps appears to have worked alongside several individuals – many of them suspiciously unindicted – to carry out a breach of the police barricades that induced a subsequent flood of unsuspecting MAGA protestors to unwittingly trespass on Capitol restricted grounds and place themselves in legal jeopardy.' However the blog offers no direct evidence to back up any allegation that Epps was acting on behalf of the FBI or any other government agency."
Read more: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10347577/Ex-Marine-accused-FBI-plant-sent-incite-Jan-6-riot-pictured-ranch.html

Revolver News series: 
October 25, 2021: Meet Ray Epps: The Fed-Protected Provocateur Who Appears To Have Led The Very First 1/6 Attack On The U.S. Capitol
December 18, 2021: Meet Ray Epps, Part 2: Damning New Details Emerge Exposing Massive Web Of Unindicted Operators At The Heart Of January 6 

Sunday, February 21, 2021

War on Terror comes home to America

The New Domestic War on Terror is Coming | Glenn Greenwald

January 18, 2021 - " The last two weeks have ushered in a wave of new domestic police powers and rhetoric in the name of fighting 'terrorism' that are carbon copies of many of the worst excesses of the first War on Terror that began nearly twenty years ago.... We have witnessed an orgy of censorship from Silicon Valley monopolies with calls for far more aggressive speech policing, a visibly militarized Washington, D.C. featuring a non-ironically named 'Green Zone,' vows from the incoming president and his key allies for a new anti-domestic terrorism bill, and frequent accusations of 'sedition,' 'treason,' and 'terrorism' against members of Congress and citizens. This is all driven by a radical expansion of the meaning of “incitement to violence'..... 

"The Wall Street Journal reports that 'Mr. Biden has said he plans to make a priority of passing a law against domestic terrorism, and he has been urged to create a White House post overseeing the fight against ideologically inspired violent extremists and increasing funding to combat them.' Meanwhile, Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) ... has had a bill proposed since 2019 to simply amend the existing foreign anti-terrorism bill to allow the U.S. Government to invoke exactly the same powers at home against 'domestic terrorists'....

"Why would such new terrorism laws be needed in a country that already imprisons more of its citizens than any other country in the world...? What acts should be criminalized by new 'domestic terrorism” laws that are not already deemed criminal? They never say, almost certainly because — just as was true of the first set of new War on Terror laws — their real aim is to criminalize that which should not be criminalized: speech, association, protests, opposition to the new ruling coalition....

"First, much of the alarmism and fear-mongering is being driven by a deliberate distortion of what it means for speech to 'incite violence.' The bastardizing of this phrase was the basis for President Trump’s rushed impeachment last week. It is also what is driving calls for dozens of members of Congress to be expelled and even prosecuted on 'sedition' charges for having objected to the Electoral College certification, and is also at the heart of the spate of censorship actions already undertaken and further repressive measures being urged....

"To illustrate this point, I have often cited the crucial and brilliantly reasoned Supreme Court free speech ruling in Claiborne v. NAACP. In the 1960s and 1970s, the State of Mississippi tried to hold local NAACP leaders liable on the ground that their fiery speeches urging a boycott of white-owned stores 'incited' their followers to burn down stores and violently attack patrons who did not honor the protest.... But the Supreme Court rejected that argument, explaining that free speech will die if people are held responsible not for their own violent acts but for those committed by others who heard them speak and were motivated to commit crimes in the name of that cause... that if speech is classified as 'incitement to violence' despite not explicitly advocating violence, it will sweep up any political speech which those wielding this term wish it to encompass. No political speech will be safe from this term when interpreted and applied so broadly and carelessly.

"And that is directly relevant to the second point. Continuing to process Washington debates of this sort primarily through the prism of 'Democrat v. Republican' or even 'left v. right' is a sure ticket to the destruction of core rights. There are times when powers of repression and censorship are aimed more at the left and times when they are aimed more at the right, but it is neither inherently a left-wing nor a right-wing tactic. It is a ruling class tactic, and it will be deployed against anyone perceived to be a dissident to ruling class interests and orthodoxies no matter where on the ideological spectrum they reside....

"If you identify as a conservative and continue to believe that your prime enemies are ordinary leftists, or you identify as a leftist and believe your prime enemies are Republican citizens, you will fall perfectly into the trap set for you. Namely, you will ignore your real enemies, the ones who actually wield power at your expense: ruling class elites, who really do not care about 'right v. left' and most definitely do not care about 'Republican v. Democrat' — as evidenced by the fact that they fund both parties — but instead care only about one thing: stability, or preservation of the prevailing neoliberal order. Unlike so many ordinary citizens addicted to trivial partisan warfare, these ruling class elites know who their real enemies are: anyone who steps outside the limits and rules of the game they have crafted and who seeks to disrupt the system that preserves their prerogatives and status.

"That a new War on Terror is coming is not a question of speculation and it is not in doubt. Those who now wield power are saying it explicitly. The only thing that is in doubt is how much opposition they will encounter from those who value basic civic rights more than the fears of one another being deliberately cultivated within us."

Read more: https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-new-domestic-war-on-terror-is

Saturday, February 3, 2018

Libertarians & everyone else react to #TheMemo

Here's What Rand Paul, Mark Meadows, and Others in Washington Are Saying About the Nunes Memo - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Scott Shackford:

February 2, 2018 - "Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), chair of the House Intelligence Committee, released his short memo today after the White House agreed to its declassification. The document claims that the FBI withheld from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that the 'Steele Dossier,' used as justification to snoop on former Donald Trump adviser Carter Page, was funded by Democratic Party sources and pushed by FBI officials with an agenda against Trump....

"House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) calls the memo 'partisan spin'.... Yet she doesn't actually counter any of the claims in the memo itself.... John McCain (R-Ariz.), no friend of Trump's, does not want the Nunes memo to threaten the investigation of whether Russia colluded with members of Trump's campaign during the election outcomes....

"But some Republican lawmakers, like Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), have been philosophically consistent. This tweet may sound like what we've been hearing from other Trump supporters:
So, there it is. The FBI took an unverified political dossier, paid for by the Clinton campaign and the DNC, and they used it as a central piece in their request to get a warrant for spying on American citizens and political opponents in the Trump campaign.
... but Meadows, as a member of the House Freedom Caucus, supported reforms to the FISA amendments that would have put tighter restrictions on using secret surveillance of American citizens....

"Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) who tried to organize a filibuster to stop FISA from being reauthorized without reforms, applauded the memo's release for similar reasons....  Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) who attempted to get surveillance reform through the House and failed, has a like-minded thread of tweets....

"The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is no fan of Trump's, but it's one of the major civil liberties groups concerned about unwarranted FBI surveillance of Americans. And in the wake of the Nunes memo, it wants more information to come out. From Christopher Anders, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington Legislative Office:
Rather than one side or the other cherry-picking facts, all Americans deserve to see all of the facts, including both the minority report and the underlying documents. The goal should be more transparency, not less, particularly when a congressional committee chairman makes serious charges of abuse but does not provide the facts to either prove the charges or allow Americans to make up our own minds.
Read more: https://reason.com/blog/2018/02/02/heres-what-leaders-are-saying-about-the
'via Blog this'

Saturday, August 5, 2017

Governments waging unwinnable war on darknet

The AlphaBay Shutdown Will Be as Futile as the Drug War Itself - Foundation for Economic Education - Working for a free and prosperous world - Nils Biedermann:

July 27, 2017 - "Recently, two major darknet markets, AlphaBay and Hansa Market, were seized by the FBI, DEA, EUROPOL and European Union member states. AlphaBay was the largest darknet market totaling about 40,000 vendors and 200,000 customers. For comparison, AlphaBay was about ten times bigger than Silk Road, another darknet market seized in 2013.

"Shortly after his arrest, AlphaBay founder Alexandre Cazes killed himself ... while [in] custody.

"On these websites, consumers are able to purchase drugs, weapons or counterfeit products of all kinds ... around 250,000 drug and chemical listings were online by the time of the shutdown (compared to about 100,000 for everything else). A conservative estimate of the total transactions since its creation in 2014 is one billion USD....

"These darknet markets work very much like any ... legal regular online market giving you the freedom to choose from a variety of products. They have a feedback system where a customer can voice his opinion about the drug as well. Vendors try to avoid bad reviews in fear of losing their good reputation, just as Yelp operates for 'above board' businesses....

"While there are a lot of similarities between darknet markets and street markets, there are huge differences as well. Darknet markets do not involve physical contact, confrontation or violence.... While the proliferation of Darknet Markets is unlikely to have an impact on systemic drug crime, the security for the consumer while buying the drug is significantly increased. The direct public feedback system ... rewards vendors and ensures the quality of the drugs. Drugs with high purity and without added substances allow consumers to properly dose the drug, reduce side effects through unwanted substances and therefore enhance security.

"History tells us that simply taking down these sites will not work.... The takedown of AlphaBay will by no means stop internet drug trafficking. It will give room to a lot of smaller sites to appear. The encryption is going to get stronger and better.... The only thing this operation has achieved is a momentary stop....

"In our efforts to reduce the drug supply we have wasted huge amounts of money, disregarded human rights, supported authoritarian structures and promoted violence and corruption. It is time to stop."

Read more: https://fee.org/articles/the-alphabay-shutdown-will-be-as-futile-as-the-drug-war-itself/?utm_medium=push&utm_source=push_notification
'via Blog this'

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Johnson: Don't play politics with Orlando shooting

PressTV-'We must not politicize Orlando shooting':

June 13, 2016 - "US Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson has said people should not politicize the Orlando nightclub mass shooting that left at least 50 people dead and 53 others injured on Sunday.

"'Thoughts are with the #Orlando victims & a community who has been attacked,' Johnson said in a Twitter message on Sunday. 'It's a time to mourn, be strong & be what makes America great.'

"The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said it is investigating both domestic and international connections to the mass shooting that was reportedly claimed by the Daesh terrorist group....

"Johnson called on Americans to allow the authorities continue their investigations and to extend their condolences to the victims of the deadly attack.

"'In this immediate aftermath of what is clearly a tragic and despicable attack, our thoughts must be with the victims,' Johnson said in a separate statement issued on Sunday afternoon.

"'Regardless of what the motivation is ultimately found to be, this violence against innocent people simply going about their lives is both cowardly and infuriating. We must allow the authorities to do their jobs, understand how this attack came about, and then respond accordingly. It is not a time to either politicize or jump to conclusions,' he stated.

"The remarks come after presumptive Republican presidential nominee used the attack to push ahead with his anti-Muslim rhetoric. Donald Trump said the shooting further proved his xenophobia campaign. 'Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic [sic] terrorism,' he said. 'I don't want congrats, I want toughness and vigilance. We must be smart!'

"Trump called for a 'total and complete shutdown of Muslims' entering the United States while campaigning in primary season.

"The New York real-estate mogul also called for a database to track Muslims across the United States, and he has also said that the US would have 'absolutely no choice' but to close down mosques."

Read more: http://presstv.ir/Detail/2016/06/13/470174/Orlando-shooting-Libertarian-nominee
'via Blog this'

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

FBI search & seizure at Free Talk Live radio

FBI in Keene: Search, not raid at 'Free Talk Live' radio host's home | New Hampshire - Paul Feely, New Hampshire Union-Leader:

March 21, 2016 - "Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation removed items Sunday morning from the Keene residence of a radio talk show host.

"A video posted Sunday on the FreeKeene.com website appears to show a group of law enforcement officers taking electronic devices and boxes from a residence at 73 Leverett St. in Keene at 6 a.m. Sunday. The FreeKeene.com website states the residence is the home of Ian Freeman, host of the nationally syndicated radio talk show “Free Talk Live,” carried by more than 170 stations across the U.S.

"A search of online property records available at the Keene municipal website shows property at 73-75 Leverett St. owned by the Shire Free Church Monadnock organization....

"Kristen Setera, spokeswoman for the FBI’s Boston Division Office, confirmed in an email Sunday night that ''the FBI conducted court-authorized activity in connection with an ongoing federal investigation.... No arrests were made'....

"'Don Feith, Assistant U.S. Attorney for New Hampshire, in an email Sunday night, confirmed the FBI conducted a search of the home...  'It was not a raid,' Feith wrote.

"The video posted at FreeKeene.com, which runs about two minutes and 25 seconds, is titled 'FBI Warrant Execution' and shows people in green vests marked FBI and others in New Hampshire State Police vests carrying what appears to be computer towers with 'evidence' tape on them, along with brown bags from the Keene home.

"T.J. Park, who also lives at the residence, took to the airwaves Sunday night with co-host Mark Edge to discuss the FBI search on the radio talk show Free Talk Live.

"''I’m looking forward to the results of this investigation,' said Park. 'Whatever this is, I know Ian didn’t do it, I know Mark didn’t do it, and I sure as hell didn’t do it. I know we’re all innocent.'"

Read more: http://www.unionleader.com/article/20160321/NEWS/160329925
'via Blog this'

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Inside the FBI's encryption battle with Apple

Inside the FBI's encryption battle with Apple | Technology | The Guardian - Danny Yadron, Spencer Ackerman and Sam Thielman:

February 18, 2016 -"Two weeks ago, the FBI called Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California, with a jarring message: the agency wanted Apple to help them hack an iPhone. Apple refused.... 16 February ... a federal magistrate ordered Apple to help the FBI unlock a single iPhone – the phone belonging to one of the killers in the December mass shooting in San Bernardino, California. Apple again refused.

"But this carefully planned legal battle has been months in the making, ... as the government and Apple try to settle whether national security can dictate how Silicon Valley writes computer code....

"On 2 December a husband and wife opened fire on a local government office building in southern California.... One of the suspects, Syed Farook, had worked for the county, which meant the government owned his iPhone 5C. With a search warrant, Apple provided the FBI data from weekly backups Farook made with Apple’s iCloud service. But those backups stopped on 19 October, according to a federal search warrant request.

"FBI investigators believed there was more data about Farook’s motives in the phone but couldn’t get to it without unlocking the device. The phone’s contents were encrypted and Apple didn’t have the four-digit passcode. Modern iPhones also have an optional feature that will erase all data on the phone with 10 incorrect passcode entries. FBI agents weren’t willing to take the risk....

"In the 16 February court order, Apple was told to build software that, when combined with the unique identification number, would allow the FBI to guess Farook’s password as many times as it wanted. The court also ordered Apple to disable a feature that added a delay after multiple incorrect passcode entries. And since a four-digit passcode has only about 10,000 possible combinations, a powerful computer could plow through guesses fairly quickly, a technology executive said.

 "US officials on Wednesday stressed that their request for Apple is only limited to Farook’s phone. 'The judge’s order and our request in this case do not require Apple to redesign its products, to disable encryption or to open content on the phone,' the Justice Department said in a statement on 17 February.

"But Apple said that it would be impossible to limit the technology to this case. Once Apple built such an investigative tool, any iPhone’s security system – even the most modern ones – could be weakened by it, an Apple executive said.... Additionally, Apple’s lawyers are concerned that if a judge validates the FBI’s use of the All Writs Act in this case, it will give the government sweeping authority to dictate how Silicon Valley builds products in the future....

"To Justice Department officials, San Bernardino is a long-awaited test case. In October 2014, the FBI’s James Comey first told a Washington audience that encryption on mobile devices effectively left law enforcement 'dark' to emerging threats. Ever since, officials believed it was only a matter of time until they came upon a case like the San Bernardino shootings: a device from a terrorist whose lock screen they couldn’t bypass by guesswork to get at the data held on the phone, and not in Apple’s iCloud....

"Senior law enforcement officials were briefed on the decision to go after Apple in such a high-profile way, sources said. The FBI also appears to have been preparing its press strategy for the search warrant for weeks."

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/feb/17/inside-the-fbis-encryption-battle-with-apple
'via Blog this'

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Apple CEO defends encyption with 'no backdoors'

Apple’s Tim Cook Lashes Out at White House Officials for Being Wishy-Washy on Encryption - Jenna McLaughlin, The Intercept::

January 12, 2016 - "Apple CEO Tim Cook lashed out at the high-level delegation of Obama administration officials who came calling on tech leaders in San Jose last week, criticizing the White House for a lack of leadership and asking the administration to issue a strong public statement defending the use of unbreakable encryption.

"The White House should come out and say 'no backdoors,' Cook said. That would mean overruling repeated requests from FBI Director James Comey and other administration officials that tech companies build some sort of special access for law enforcement into otherwise unbreakable encryption. Technologists agree that any such measure could be exploited by others....

The Washington Post reported in September that the White House had decided not to pursue legislation against unbreakable encryption. But the intelligence community’s top lawyer was quoted in an email saying that that the administration should be 'keeping our options open … in the event of a terrorist attack or criminal event where strong encryption can be shown to have hindered law enforcement.'

"And Comey has been urging technology companies to voluntarily alter 'their business model' and stop offering end-to-end encryption by default.

"Despite the growing pressure tech companies are feeling from governments worldwide to stop letting terrorists take advantage of their services, Cook has continued to defend the importance of encryption in protecting all digital transactions — from text messages and emails to bank information and medical records.

"Cook has been outspoken in his opposition to the idea that we need to sacrifice privacy and digital security for the sake of public safety. During an episode of 60 Minutes on December 20, he said, 'We’re America, we should have both'....

"[T]echnologists and cryptographers have been insisting for decades almost unanimously that trying to pierce impenetrable end-to-end encryption to provide the government with access would be more dangerous than beneficial."

Read more: https://theintercept.com/2016/01/12/apples-tim-cook-lashes-out-at-white-house-officials-for-being-wishy-washy-on-encryption/
'via Blog this'

Monday, November 23, 2015

Benton & Tate indicted again on same charges

New Indictment Revives Charges Against Ex-Ron Paul 2012 Aides - David Pitt, Talking Points Memo:

November 20, 2015 - "Federal prosecutors continue to pursue criminal charges against three top campaign advisers to 2012 presidential candidate Ron Paul.

 "In a new grand jury indictment filed Thursday in federal court in Des Moines, Paul's 2012 campaign chairman Jesse Benton, campaign manager John Tate and deputy manager Dimitri Kesari are charged with conspiracy to cover up $73,000 in campaign payments to former Iowa Sen. Kent Sorenson. Sorenson dropped his support for Michelle Bachmann and endorsed Paul in December 2011, six days before the Iowa caucuses.

"Benton, Tate and Kesari also are charged with causing false campaign contribution reports to be filed to the Federal Election Commission and participating in a false statement scheme. Benton and Tate are charged with causing the campaign to file false records of the payments. Kesari was convicted of that charge last month.

"The three men were originally charged in August, but a judge dismissed charges against Tate and all but one charge against Benton because they were based on information the government obtained during FBI interviews last year that the judge said was not admissible.

"In the new indictment the charges are based primarily on emails and other communication the prosecutors plan to offer into evidence.

"Benton was tried on one count of lying to the FBI, but a Des Moines jury acquitted him of that charge last month. At the same trial Kesari was convicted of causing the campaign to file false records but jurors said they could not reach a verdict on counts alleging conspiracy, causing false campaign expenditure reports and a scheme to falsify statements. Those charges are refiled against Kesari and Benton in the new indictment....

"The men have previously said they believe the prosecution is politically motivated and that they are another example of the federal government going after tea party-backed conservatives. They said Sorenson's job as a subcontractor is common in campaigns and the law doesn't require disclosure of payments to subcontractors.

"In last month's trial Paul told jurors he suspected federal prosecutors unsealed the indictment against them one day before his son, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul was set to appear at the Republican Party's first debate of the 2016 campaign....

"Tate is the founder and president of America's Liberty, one of several super political action committees supporting Rand Paul's presidential campaign. Benton, who also helped lead the PAC, is married to Ron Paul's granddaughter, Valori Pyeatt, Rand Paul's niece. Tate and Benton took a leave of absence from the PAC when they were charged."

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/jesse-benton-jon-tate-dimitri-kesari-indicted
'via Blog this'

Friday, October 23, 2015

Benton & Tate go free in Iowa bribery case

Adviser to Ron and Rand Paul found not guilty in bribery case - Yahoo News Joseph Ax, Reuters:

October 23, 2015 - "A former top adviser to 2012 Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul's campaign has been found not guilty in connection with an alleged bribery scheme to buy an Iowa state senator's endorsement.

"A jury in Iowa on Thursday cleared Jesse Benton, Paul's former campaign spokesman, of lying to the FBI about the alleged bribery, which came in advance of the 2012 Iowa caucuses in that year's presidential race....

"Benton, who is married to Paul's granddaughter, has worked with the [America's Liberty] Super PAC supporting Paul's son Rand as he seeks the Republican nomination for president for the November 2016 election.

"'I'm happy justice has been served', Rand Paul, a U.S. senator from Kentucky, said in a statement on Friday.

"Another former Ron Paul adviser, Dmitri Kesari, was convicted of causing the filing of a false campaign finance record but found not guilty of obstruction of justice. The jury could not agree on three other counts against Kesari.

"The case grew out of allegations that Benton, Kesari and another adviser, John Tate, bribed Iowa state Senator Kent Sorenson with $73,000 to switch his endorsement from then-U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann to Paul days before the 2012 Iowa Republican caucus....

"A federal judge threw out all charges against Tate ahead of the trial this month, as well as several other counts against Benton.

"Tate is the founder and president of America's Liberty PAC, the Super PAC supporting Rand Paul."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/adviser-ron-rand-paul-found-not-guilty-bribery-201834005.html
'via Blog this'

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

4 charges against Benton & Tate thrown out

Judge dismisses four of five charges against former Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell aide | Rand Paul | Kentucky.com - Sam Youngman, Lexington Herald-Leader:

October 9, 2015 - "A federal judge dismissed four of the five counts against Jesse Benton on Friday, ruling that the U.S. Department of Justice violated an agreement with the former aide to U.S. Sens. Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell by using his statements to obtain an indictment.

"Benton, who also was a longtime aide to former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, resigned last year as campaign manager for McConnell's re-election campaign amid an investigation into allegations that Benton and others involved with Ron Paul's 2012 presidential campaign bribed an Iowa state senator to switch allegiances and then concealed the payments.

"Benton and another Republican operative, John Tate, took leaves of absence from leading Rand Paul's super PAC after they were indicted this summer.

"On Friday, Judge John A. Jarvey dismissed four counts — dealing with falsifying campaign documents and conspiracy — after Benton and Tate argued that the federal government used their statements against them in grand jury proceedings despite an agreement not to.

"A charge against Benton for allegedly lying to the FBI was not dismissed....

"Tate and GOP operative Dimitri Kesari were accused of bribing Iowa state Sen. Kent Sorenson with $78,000 to switch his endorsement from former U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann's campaign to Ron Paul's in the final days of the 2012 Iowa caucuses."

Read more: http://www.kentucky.com/2015/10/09/4079804_judge-dismisses-four-of-five-charges.html?rh=1
'via Blog this'

Monday, August 24, 2015

Google resists FBI 'fishing' in Benton's e-mails

Google Won’t Let the Government See the Emails of Rand Paul's Aides | Mother Jones - Russ Choma:

Aug. 19, 2015 - "In the summer of 2014, federal investigators began probing whether Ron Paul's 2012 presidential campaign had paid Iowa state Sen. Kent Sorenson for his endorsement. After Sorenson confessed, investigators focused on three other men, including current presidential candidate Rand Paul's nephew-in-law, Jesse Benton, whose email account supposedly contained evidence....

"FBI agents got a search warrant that entitled them to read the emails without Benton's cooperation. But the plan did not go smoothly. Benton has a Gmail account, and Google's policy is to notify users when their accounts have been hit with a search warrant. Benton's attorney, Roscoe Howard, promptly filed a motion to block the search warrant, alleging that it was improper, and Google stopped cooperating with the FBI.

"Two weeks ago, Benton and two other top Paul aides ... were indicted on federal charges, including conspiracy, campaign finance violations, and making false statements.... The FBI still hasn't gotten ahold of Benton's emails. Last week, a judge ruled that the FBI had a right to the emails, but once again, Benton resisted and Google agreed....

"'Frighteningly, the government still maintains that it has the right to trample Mr. Benton’s privacy rights and look through every single one of Mr. Benton’s emails, just as if his email account were a warehouse full of documents,' Howard wrote. 'The government’s statement underscores its true intent —to conduct a fishing expedition.'

"The government has now demanded that Google be held in contempt if the company doesn't immediately turn over the emails, and it has argued that Benton and his attorney can raise their concerns at trial if they don't like the way the search warrant was obtained....

"Hanni Fakhoury, a senior staff counsel with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said courts have not yet settled the question of how specific or broad email search warrants should be.... 'This case is smack in the middle of the debate,' Fakhoury says. 'This is a very high-profile and dramatic example of it, because we're talking about half a million emails.'

"Howard, Benton's attorney, wrote in one filing that his client had cooperated fully with investigators and provided a 50,000-page list of all the emails in his account, which may contain as many as 500,000 emails. Howard argues that the government's search warrant is simply too broad, and that Benton's Gmail account contains both personal and political correspondence.

"Google has now officially joined the fight. Its lawyer, Guy Cook, told the court that the company will not turn over Benton's emails. 'Google cannot be held in contempt simply for allowing Mr. Benton to exercise his appellate rights and awaiting the district court’s ruling on the warrant’s validity,' Cook wrote. The company's position is that it will release emails only after the conflict over the search warrant has been resolved in court.

"A Google spokeswoman declined to discuss the case specifically but said the company won't comply with overly broad requests."

Read more: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/08/google-jumps-legal-fight-over-paul-aides
'via Blog this'

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Insane Clown Posse, fans, and ACLU sue the FBI

Insane Clown Posse take the FBI head on - West Palm Beach Libertarian | Examiner.com - Karl Dickey:

January 9, 2014 - "Yesterday, January 8, 2014, two members of the music group Insane Clown Posse and four of their fans, known as Juggalos, filed a lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) for claiming they are part of organized crime. The group claims the FBI and the DOJ have overstepped their bounds....

"In 2011 the FBI labeled the group and their fans as members of a gang if they had the'Juggalos' logo tattooed on their skin and fans have reportedly been involved in repeated altercations with police simply for exercising their right of free expression and association.... Individual Juggalos have reported suffering improper investigations, detentions and other denials of their personal rights at the hands of government officials.

"The group and the four fans are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan.... 'The Juggalos are fighting for the basic American right to freely express who they are, to gather and share their appreciation of music, and to discuss issues that are important to them without fear of being unfairly targeted and harassed by police,' said Michael J. Steinberg, ACLU of Michigan legal director. 'Branding hundreds of thousands of music fans as gang members based on the acts of a few individuals defies logic and violates our most cherished of constitutional rights.'"

Read more: http://www.examiner.com/article/insane-clown-posse-takes-on-the-fbi-head-on
'via Blog this'

Friday, October 4, 2013

FBI arrests alleged Silk Road webmaster

How the feds took down the Dread Pirate Roberts - Nate Anderson and Cyrus Farivar, Ars Technica:

October 3, 2013 - "The Dread Pirate Roberts, head of the most brazen drug trafficking site in the world, was a walking contradiction. Though the government says he raked in $80 million in commissions from running Silk Road, he allegedly lived under a false name in one bedroom of a San Francisco home that he shared with two other guys and for which he paid $1,000 a month in cash. Though his alleged alter ego penned manifestos about ending "violence, coercion, and all forms of force," the FBI claims that he tried to arrange a hit on someone who had blackmailed him. And though he ran a site widely assumed to be under investigation by some of the most powerful agencies in the US government, the Dread Pirate Robert appears to have been remarkably sloppy — so sloppy that the government finally put a name to the peg leg: Ross William Ulbricht.

 "Yesterday, Ulbricht left his apartment to visit the Glen Park branch of the San Francisco Public Library in the southern part of the city. Library staff did not recognize him as a regular library patron, but they thought nothing of his visit as he set up his laptop in the science fiction section of the stacks. Then, at 3:15pm, staffers heard a "crashing sound" from the sci-fi collection and went to investigate, worried that a patron had fallen. Instead, library Communications Director Michelle Jeffers tells us that the staff came upon 'six to eight' FBI agents arresting Ulbricht and seizing his laptop. The agents had tailed him, waiting for the 29-year-old to open his computer and enter his passwords before swooping in."

 Read more: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/10/how-the-feds-took-down-the-dread-pirate-roberts/

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Gary Johnson: 'This Independence Day feels different'

Libertarian Gary Johnson: 'this Independence Day feels different' - Washington Times - Jennifer Thompson:

"Former Libertarian presidential hopeful Gary Johnson ... is not delivering the typical feel-good Fourth of July message this year.

"'This Independence Day feels a little different,' he says. 'The news in recent weeks about the IRS using its force against certain targeted groups has reminded us that, absent vigilance on our part, the government will abuse the power it has accumulated. Likewise, as we learn more about the massive surveillance being conducted by the NSA and the FBI, a lot of Americans are today thinking and talking about the 4th Amendment and its intended protections against unreasonable searches....

"'These "revelations" are bringing long-overdue attention to the liberties the Founding Fathers worked so hard and sacrificed so much to provide and protect. It is more than a little ironic that the Revolution was prompted, in part, by abusive tax policies and unreasonable searches - on the part of ‘tyrants’.'"

"Mr. Johnson is ... chairman of Our America Initiative, a grassroots group centered on smaller government and a frugal mindset. His fellow board members include Barry Goldwater Jr., former independent presidential hopeful Buddy Roemer and Whole Foods co-founder John Mackey.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/watercooler/2013/jul/3/libertarian-gary-johnson-independence-day-feels-di/#ixzz2Y7E5edI8
'via Blog this'

Monday, April 22, 2013

Terrorist plots hatched by the FBI - New York Times

Terrorist Plots, Hatched by the F.B.I. - NYTimes.com - David K. Shipler, New York Times:

April 28, 2012 - "The United States has been narrowly saved from lethal terrorist plots in recent years — or so it has seemed. A would-be suicide bomber was intercepted on his way to the Capitol; a scheme to bomb synagogues and shoot Stinger missiles at military aircraft was developed by men in Newburgh, N.Y.; and a fanciful idea to fly explosive-laden model planes into the Pentagon and the Capitol was hatched in Massachusetts.

"But all these dramas were facilitated by the F.B.I., whose undercover agents and informers posed as terrorists offering a dummy missile, fake C-4 explosives, a disarmed suicide vest and rudimentary training. Suspects naïvely played their parts until they were arrested....

"This is legal, but is it legitimate? Without the F.B.I., would the culprits commit violence on their own? Is cultivating potential terrorists the best use of the manpower designed to find the real ones? Judging by their official answers, the F.B.I. and the Justice Department are sure of themselves — too sure, perhaps."

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/opinion/sunday/terrorist-plots-helped-along-by-the-fbi.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
'via Blog this'