National Security and Foreign Affairs
The new week on Capitol Hill is poised to bring more questions about WikiLeaks' release of documents purportedly exposing the CIA's hacking operations.
Lawmakers have already raised questions and concerns about the documents, which the CIA has not publicly confirmed are authentic. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) demanded an immediate congressional investigation, and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) asked for a classified hearing on the matter for lawmakers on the House Homeland Security Committee.
A flurry of leaks, President Donald Trump's unproven wiretapping allegations and WikiLeaks' disclosure of CIA hacking tools are breathing new life into civil libertarians' hopes of reining in the government's spying powers when they come due for congressional renewal this year.
Critics of laws allowing federal agencies to eavesdrop on digital communications had faced daunting odds in their push to water down those authorities, which the Trump administration wants to keep as a tool against terrorists.
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WASHINGTON – In the aftermath of misleading information put forth by Attorney General Jeff Sessions concerning his interaction with Russian operatives, and following a steady stream of troubling revelations related to possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during last year's presidential election, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Ted W. Lieu have introduced a resolution of inquiry that could compel the Administration to publicly disclose information to Congress and the American people.
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Washington – Today, Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D | Los Angeles County) issued the following statement regarding news that U.S. ground troops are being deployed to fight in Syria.
"The deployment of conventional U.S. ground troops to fight in Syria is a highly disturbing escalation of our military entanglement in a faraway country. While President Trump says stuff that makes you think he may be isolationist, his actions in Syria resemble those of a war monger."
The State Department has approved a resumption of weapons sales that critics have linked to Saudi Arabia's bombing of civilians in Yemen, a potential sign of reinvigorated U.S. support for the kingdom's involvement in its neighbor's ongoing civil war.
The proposal from the State Department would reverse a decision made late in the Obama administration to suspend the sale of precision guided munitions to Riyadh, which leads a mostly Arab coalition conducting airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen.
There is a need for more technical expertise by lawmakers in Congress to address increasing privacy and security issues raised by internet-connected devices, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) told Bloomberg BNA in a video interview.
As one of only four members of Congress with a computer science degree, Lieu said he is working to make "cybersecurity one of the top priorities" for the U.S.
Just off your tinfoil hat because if WikiLeaks is to be believed, paranoia is perfectly natural. Julian Assange's whistle-blowing site published thousands of documents Tuesday it says reveal how the CIA hacks computers, smartphones and even TVs.
Your TV may be listening.
The crusading website WikiLeaks published thousands of documents Tuesday it says detail CIA tools for hacking into web servers, computers, smartphones and even TVs that can be turned into covert microphones.
The website claims the CIA Center for Cyber Intelligence "lost control of the majority of its hacking arsenal," more than several hundred million lines of code that provide "the entire hacking capacity of the CIA."
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Cali.) is calling for an investigation into how thousands of secret documents - including CIA hacking tools - ended up in the hands of Wikileaks.
"I am deeply disturbed by the allegation that the CIA lost its arsenal of hacking tools," said Lieu in a statement.
Tuesday morning, Wikileaks published an archive of files including descriptions of hacking techniques used to turn targets' cell phones and televisions into surveillance devices.
Wikileaks said the documents came from a secure CIA network.