New version of DOJ letter attaching FBI analysis of Guantánamo interrogation tactics released

Read it here.

FBI rules out use of facial recognition technology

(The Guardian) Speaking at the Biometrics 2009 conference in London, James A Loudermilk II (the man behind the FBI’s automated fingerprint identification system) outlined the plans for the future of biometrics at the FBI.

Under the next generation identification initiative, an irisprint database is likely to be added to the FBI’s existing fingerprint and DNA databases. [...]

FOIA Lawsuit Yields Unclassified FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide

In September 2008, the Bush administration changed domestic intelligence-gathering rules. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s interpretation of those rules was recently made public when the bureau released a redacted copy of its “Domestic Investigations and Operation Guide” in response to a Freedom of Information lawsuit. The new rules have given F.B.I. agents the most power [...]

Documents detail conditions found at secret CIA jails

Newly released documents show the FBI interviewed a naked, chained Ramzi Binalshibh back in 2002 as the bureau struggled with the CIA over how to treat high-value prisoners. According to one document, FBI officials told investigators when they arrived at the unidentified CIA site “the detainees were manacled to the ceiling and subjected to blaring [...]

New CRS reports and congressional hearings released

Afghanistan: Post-Taliban Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy (6 Oct. 2009)
Africa Command: U.S. Strategic Interests and the Role of the U.S. Military in Africa (2 Oct 2009)
Removing Aliens from the United States: Judicial Review of Removal Orders (25 September 2009)

The records of several noteworthy congressional hearings that were held in the past two years have been [...]

Intelligence community legal reference book

The US Office of the Director of National Intelligence has declassified its Intelligence Community Legal Reference Book from which the US intelligence community ‘draws much of its authority and guidance’. Download the 949 pages here.

Current wiretapping discussions in the US: the Patriot Act extensions, the Justice Bill and Leahy’s proposal

A US Department of Justice (DOJ) official told the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday that the Obama administration supports the reauthorization of two provisions of the USA Patriot Act and one provision of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 set to expire at the end of the year. Assistant Attorney General for National [...]

Obama-backed bill worries FBI whistleblowers

Georgetown SLB reports that working with the administrationUS Congress is considering a new whistleblower-protection bill, and the protections afforded to national security and intelligence agency employees have emerged as a key sticking point. The White House sought changes in a Senate bill to strip existing rights for FBI whistleblowers despite Mr. Obama’s campaign promises to [...]

Counterterrorism still FBI top priority

Eight years after 9/11, counterterrorism efforts continue to dominate the operations and budget of the FBI , according to a Tuesday report by the New York Times. Since the attacks, the bureau has doubled the number of agents it assigns to counterterrorism efforts and has created specialized “threat squads” to investigate possible threats. Agents in [...]

John Brennan on the US counterterrorism policy

Remarks by John O. Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, As Prepared for Delivery “A New Approach to Safeguarding Americans, 6 August 2009. Read the speech here.
Interview with Brennan here. Comments in the LA Times and the WSJ.