Alberto Gonzales | intelNews.org

News you may have missed #0096

September 5, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Iranian bodyguard detained for espionage. All Iranian authorities will say is that the man belonged to a “senior official security squad” and that he was arrested on suspicion of “espionage and anti-security activities”. No word yet as to which country or group he was allegedly spying for.
Secret US-Japanese nuke pact still valid, say sources. American military vessels and aircraft carrying nuclear weapons can enter Japanese territory as long as Japan is protected by the US nuclear umbrella, says a former high-ranking Japanese government official.
US ex-attorney general now says he doesn’t support CIA probe. Alberto Gonzales, who served as US Attorney General under the Bush Administration, now says the US press was wrong to suggest that he supports a rumored investigation into CIA practices after 9/11.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Alberto Gonzales, CIA, diplomacy, espionage, Iran, Japan, News, news you may have missed, nuclear proliferation, United States

News you may have missed #0066

August 12, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

US court upholds conviction of CIA contractor. A federal appeals court has upheld the conviction of David Passaro, the first US civilian found guilty of abusing a detainee in Afghanistan.
US ex-Attorney General comes out against CIA probe. In a move that is hardly surprising, US Attorney General under the Bush Administration, Alberto Gonzales, said yesterday that investigating past interrogation practices “could discourage” CIA operatives from “engaging in conduct that even comes close” to more stringent guidelines.
Rare Chinese view on the Rio Tinto spy case. A rare article in English, by Jiang Ruqin, an official in the Bureau of National Secrecy of China’s Jiangsu Province.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Afghanistan, Alberto Gonzales, Australia, Bureau of National Secrecy (China), China, CIA, David Passaro, energy resources, intelligence outsourcing, Jiang Ruqin, News, news you may have missed, Rio Tinto, torture, US Attorney General, War on Terrorism

Comment: AIPAC agents accused of spying may walk scot-free

April 23, 2009 by intelNews 3 Comments

Jane Harman

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
The controversy over Democratic Representative Jane Harman’s alleged telephone deal with a suspected agent of Israel is still raging. One of its unfortunate side effects has been to shift media attention away from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) involvement in the Lawrence Franklin spy case, and focus instead on Washington micro-politicking. But what about the two former AIPAC lobbyists who are technically at the center of the Harman imbroglio? Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with AIPAC, Alberto Gonzales, Ben-Ami Kadish, Benjamin Netanyahu, communications interception, espionage, Hillary Clinton, Israel, Jane Harman, Joseph Fitsanakis, Keith Weissman, Lawrence Anthony Franklin, NSA, Sallai Meridor, Steve Rosen, United States, US Army, US Department of Justice, US Department of State, Uzi Arad

Comment: NSA listened in on Rep. Harman secret phone deal

April 21, 2009 by intelNews 3 Comments

Jane Harman

By IAN ALLEN| intelNews.org |
Representative Jane Harman (D-CA) has been in the limelight since Sunday evening, when veteran national security correspondent Jeff Stein published an article alleging that the Democratic politician struck a quid pro quo deal with a suspected Israeli spy. In the article, Stein cites several unnamed “former national security officials” who say Harman’s incriminating telephone conversation with the suspected Israeli agent was picked up in 2005 by a FISA-authorized NSA wiretap. During the call, the agent asked Harman to pressure US Justice Department officials to show leniency toward two American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobbyists, who were arrested in 2005 for receiving classified information by convicted Israeli spy Lawrence Anthony Franklin. The two lobbyists, Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, are still awaiting trial.

Waxman sides with CIA on Iraq intelligence dispute

December 21, 2008 by intelNews Leave a comment

For several years, disgraced former US Attorney-General, Alberto Gonzales, and Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, have maintained that the CIA approved the routine use in Presidential speeches of dubious intelligence on Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Recently, George W. Bush upheld to these claims by blaming the US intelligence community for the false information on Iraqi WMD. Now the chair of the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), has written a memo [pdf] containing the results of his investigation on the matter. In it, Rep. Waxman explains that “the CIA had warned at least four National Security Council officials not to allow Bush, in three speeches in 2002, to cite questionable intelligence that Iraq had attempted to obtain uranium”. Read more of this post