Is my iPhone listening to me?
Head over to the Intercept to see a beautifully produced, disturbing film about an FBI sting operation against left-wing environmentalists. Using FBI secret wiretaps and undercover videos, the short film follows "Anna," a paid FBI informant, as she seduces Eric McDavid. McDavid was later convicted of federal terrorism offenses and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Today FBI director James Comey spoke before the Senate Judiciary Committee. His written testimony is remarkable not only for what it included, but also for what it excluded. I’m going to imitate the Harpers Index to illustrate his remarks in context.
The FBI has a new electronic FOIA submission tool on its website. And guess what? It requires that you scan a copy of your government-issued ID card before asking the government to release documents to the public.
Yesterday the Massachusetts legislature's Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security heard testimony on S.1234/H.2144, an Act relative to military grade controlled property. The bill would institute basic transparency and oversight requirements to govern the way that state and local police obtain military grade equipment, as defined by federal statute.
Documents leaked to a justice organization by police whistleblowers in Alabama reveal a decades long conspiracy to plant guns and drugs on up to one thousand innocent Black men. The records also reveal a cover up that reached the highest levels of law enforcement in the state, including the local district attorney and a police officer who went on to become the state's current head of homeland security. Some of the police officers involved in the corruption ring are apparently dedicated white supremacists.
In the latest example of terror wars mission creep, the French government has begun using emergency rule powers granted in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks to silence environmentalists.
The Intercept reports: