Red Branch Consulting
Founder of Red Branch Consulting, which consults on national security and privacy law, and visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation's Center for Legal and Judicial Studies; former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy in the Department of Homeland Security
Will the Latest NSA Revelations Lead to Reform? For more than a year, reporters have been poring over the vast trove of National Security Agency files made public by Edward Snowden. Promised reform to protect the privacy of innocent citizens whose records were being swept up is now stalled in Congress. Meantime, revelations keep coming: the latest analysis of files he made public show the NSA spied on well-known public figures and looked at the private communications of American citizens, even though they were not official “targets.”
Is the Government Reading Your Email? An FBI agent told superiors that his friend Jill Kelly was subjected to e-mail harassment. The subsequent investigation did not uncover a crime, but it ultimately forced David Petraeus to resign as Director of the CIA. The incident is being cited as evidence that technology and laws passed since September 11 demonstrate how vulnerable innocent Americans are to invasions of privacy by government agencies, turning the US into a "surveillance state." Why don't constitutional protections apply to e-mail? What's the role of Google, Facebook and the Cloud?
David Petraeus, Paula Broadwell… and You An FBI agent told superiors that his friend Jill Kelly was subjected to e-mail harassment. The subsequent investigation did not uncover a crime, but it ultimately forced David Petraeus to resign as Director of the CIA. The incident demonstrates how vulnerable innocent Americans are to invasions of privacy by government agencies. Under current law, there is no expectation of privacy for e-mail or other telecommunications, which go through third parties like Google or Facebook. The Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search does not apply, creating the potential for abuse by government agents. Can the law catch up with technology, or has the US already become a "surveillance state?"
Terrorism, Civil Rights and the No-Fly List Underwear bombs are just one example of why the FBI has maintained the No-Fly List in instituted in 2003. But it includes some 500 American citizens who can't find out why they're on the list or how to get off it. On this archived edition of To the Point, first broadcast on May 15, we talk about that with a former Marine. Like 14 others who've gone to court, he says he has no terrorist ties and that the FBI won't present him with evidence or tell him how to appeal. Is airborne terrorism so dangerous that it justifies suspension of Constitutional rights?
Terrorism, Civil Rights and the No-Fly List Underwear bombs are just one example of why the FBI has maintained the No-Fly List in instituted in 2003. But it includes some 500 American citizens who can't find out why they're on the list or how to get off it. On this archived edition of To the Point, first broadcast on May 15, we talk about that with a former Marine. Like 14 others who've gone to court, he says he has no terrorist ties and that the FBI won't present him with evidence or tell him how to appeal. Is airborne terrorism so dangerous that it justifies suspension of Constitutional rights?
No-Fly Lists, Underwear Bombs and the 'War on Terror' The latest version of al Qaeda's underwear bomb revealed technology that could defeat airport scanners maintained by the Transportation Security Administration. In the meantime, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is hearing a Constitutional challenge to the government's No-Fly list. One of the plaintiffs is Ibraheim "Abe" Mashal, a four-year veteran of the US Marines. He's now a traveling dog trainer, who discovered that he was on the No-Fly list when he tried to check into a flight from Chicago to Spokane, Washington. He's one of 500 American citizens on the FBI's list, without explanation or any way to appeal. We hear about the latest in high-tech terrorist technology and the denial of Constitutional rights.
Terrorism, Civil Rights and the No-Fly List The latest version of al Qaeda's underwear bomb has revealed technology that could defeat airport scanners maintained by the TSA and re-focused attention on the No-Fly List, kept by the FBI since 2003. It includes some 500 American citizens who can't find out why they're on the list or how to get off it. We talk to a former Marine who, like 14 others who've gone to court, says he has no terrorist ties and that the FBI won't confront him with evidence or tell him how to appeal. Is airborne terrorism so dangerous that it justifies suspension of Constitutional rights?
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.
President Trump: US to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord Trump says he was elected to serve Pittsburgh, not Paris.
White House budget proposal slashes and burns President Trump's first budget request is considered dead on arrival in Congress — a familiar development in Capitol Hill. We hear what it reveals about the priorities of the new administration. What's likely to die… and what might survive?
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?