Did the Pentagon destroy evidence in the NSA leak investigation?

[bemildred]

WASHINGTON

Two government watchdog agencies are investigating whether the Pentagon inspector general destroyed evidence improperly during the high-profile leak investigation of former NSA senior official Thomas Drake.

The Justice Department acknowledged the probes in a letter last week to a federal magistrate judge who recently received the allegations from Drake’s lawyers. The judge is determining whether she should take further action in a case that ended in 2011 when Drake pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge.

The Justice Department told the judge the inquiries are being conducted by a committee that looks into allegations of misconduct by inspectors general’s offices and the Office of Special Counsel, a federal agency that investigates whistleblower complaints.

“DOD OIG’s handling of documents . . . is within the scope of an ongoing inquiry by the Office of Special Counsel (OSC),” Raymond Hulser, the chief of Justice’s public integrity section, wrote to U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephanie Gallagher in a letter dated June 11. “In the event that OSC finds evidence of criminal conduct during the course of its work, it will refer that evidence to the Department of Justice for appropriate action.”

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/nation-world/national/article24398617.html

[bemildred]

1. CIA Had "Guidelines" for "Human Experimentation"

The director of America's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was able to make the final call on "human experimentation", it has emerged.

According to The Guardian, which got the scoop, George Tenet has never been a medic yet was the person who signed off on waterboarding – a torture technique that simulates drowning – and what are euphemistically called "enhanced interrogation techniques".

What's striking about the document, which was the result of a Freedom of Information request by the American Civil Liberties Union, is that it sets out rules and guidelines for informed consent, something that waterboarding obviously wouldn't be consistent with.

Apparently experimentation has been explicitly outlawed since the Ronald Reagan era in the 1980s. CIA guidance says that the agency “shall not sponsor, contract for, or conduct research on human subjects”.

http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2015/06/cia-had-guidelines-for-human-experimentation/

[bemildred]

2. Spies, Medics, and Hackers: A Guide to the Reorganized CIA

The Central Intelligence Agency is realigning its workforce into a matrix of spies, analysts, scientists, economists, religious experts and others to eliminate blind spots as global threats intensify.

Here’s how it will work:

Ten “mission centers” have an assigned geographic or topical focus:

Africa
Counterintelligence
Counterterrorism
East Asia and Pacific
Europe and Eurasia
Global Issues (religious extremism, etc.)
Near East
South and Central Asia
Weapons and Counterproliferation
Western Hemisphere

Complementing these mission centers will be five “directorates” or overarching units that provide the staff and expertise for agency’s different functions.

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/06/15/a-guide-to-cia-2-0/?mod=WSJBlog

Well, a new org-chart.

[bemildred]

3. John Oliver Enlists Dame Helen Mirren To Read Out CIA Torture Report, Including Details Of 'Rectal I

Comedian John Oliver returned to his critique of the post-9/11 CIA torture programme on his Sunday show, enlisting Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren to voice an "audiobook" of the unclassified 500-word report that "no one has read."

On the issue of forced rectal rehydration, Oliver noted the details are so graphic, “not even Mirren can make them sound appealing.” Cue the star of “The Queen” reading out the following:

“Majid Khan’s ‘lunch tray’ consisting of hummus, pasta with sauce, nuts, and raisins was ‘pureed’ and rectally infused.”

Oliver revealed that 57% of Americans still think torture techniques provided “reliable intelligence.” However, the report concludes that the tactics were “ineffective,” despite claims by the CIA.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/06/15/john-oliver-helen-mirren-report-cia-torture_n_7586336.html

[bemildred]

4. . nt

[valerief]

5. Does a bear shit in the woods? nt

[bemildred]

6. What else would they do? What have they always done?

Yeah, I know.