In the News
Although the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) dispute with Apple dominated the news for months this spring, the real encryption war may only now be simmering, as states battle the federal government over the right to regulate encryption.
WASHINGTON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - The Pentagon declined to say on Monday whether the USS Mason destroyer was targeted by multiple inbound missiles fired from Yemen on Saturday, as initially thought, saying a review was under way to determine what happened.
Any determination that the USS Mason guided-missile destroyer was targeted on Saturday could have military repercussions, since the United States has threatened to retaliate again should its ships come under fire from territory in Yemen controlled by Iran-aligned Houthi fighters.
Washington — U.S. Reps. Justin Amash, R-Cascade Township, and Ted Lieu, D-California, sent a bipartisan letter Friday urging Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper to brief lawmakers on the issues raised by reports that Yahoo searched its users’ incoming emails at the request of the federal government.
In addition to Amash and Lieu, the letter was signed by Michigan’s U.S. Reps. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, and Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, and 44 others.
What’s up with Yahoo reportedly helping the government by scanning its users’ incoming emails? Like the rest of us, lawmakers want to know.
So a bipartisan group of 48 representatives on Friday sent a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, asking to be briefed as soon as possible.
Rep. Lieu questions government agencies at the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s IT Subcommittee hearing on how to better protect our electronic voting machines and democratic process.
Rep. Lieu:
My understanding from the main thrust of your testimony is that because we’ve got 50 states, thousands of different jurisdictions, the American election system is complex, diverse, and robust because it is really hard to hack all of that.
Lawmakers are calling on the Obama administration to brief Congress on the surveillance program reportedly imposed on Yahoo Mail by intelligence authorities.
"As legislators, it is our responsibility to have accurate information about the intelligence activities conducted by the federal government," Reps. Justin Amash, R-Mich., Ted Lieu, D-Calif., and others wrote.
Letter: “it is our responsibility to have accurate information.”
On Friday, dozens of members of Congress wrote an open letter to the attorney general and the director of National Intelligence. In it, they requested a briefing regarding the recent Reuters story that Yahoo complied with a secret court order to search all of its customers’ e-mail.
They wrote:
The federal regulatory agency says investigations are not public it files charges, so it will not provide documents demanded by the House Science committee chair.
SEC Chair Mary Jo White would not confirm her agency is investigating Exxon, so she will not provide documents demanded by House Science committee chair Rep. Lamar Smith.
A bipartisan group of 48 U.S. lawmakers wants two government agencies to explain a surveillance program in which Yahoo reportedly scanned all the messages of its email users on behalf of the FBI.
After recent news reports of the email scanning program, the Department of Justice and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence need to brief Congress about the efforts, the lawmakers said in a letter to the two agencies.