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Poll_Blind

(23,864 posts)
Mon Jun 10, 2013, 02:13 PM Jun 2013

'4 Intelligence Officials' Allegedly Joke Of 'Disappearing' NSA Leaker, Reporter (UPDATED)

'4 Intelligence Officials' Allegedly Joke Of 'Disappearing' NSA Leaker, Reporter (UPDATED)

Leading foreign policy analyst Steve Clemons said he witnessed a rather disturbing conversation while waiting for a flight at the Dulles airport on Saturday.

According to Clemons, four men sitting near him were discussing an intelligence conference they had just attended, and turned to the topic of the NSA leaks. One said that both the reporter and leaker should be "disappeared," a term used to describe secret murders and abductions carried out by authoritarian governments. Clemons said on Twitter the suggestion seemed to be "bravado" and a "disturbing joke." He said that the officials were talking loudly, "almost bragging."

HuffPost asked Clemons via Twitter how he could be sure they were in the intelligence community and he noted that "one wore a white knit national counterterrorism center shirt." But more importantly, he said, the conversation led him to conclude that they were certainly in the community, especially given the conference they talked about attending. They discussed former Ambassador John Negroponte as having been in attendance. (If you know what conference that was, email openreporting@huffingtonpost.com.)

Clemons, who is editor at large at The Atlantic, said he did not know who the officials were or what agency they were with. He recorded part of the conversation and took some photos, which he plans to post online.


And this update:
UPDATE: Clemons has learned that the men were in town attending an event hosted by the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, which lists dress code for the dinner as "black tie or mess dress."


Stay tuned...

PB
11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Recursion

(56,582 posts)
1. "Hey, let's go to a bar and talk about the intelligence conference we just attended"
Mon Jun 10, 2013, 02:14 PM
Jun 2013

A thousand RSOs just wept.

JoePhilly

(27,787 posts)
3. So a knit shirt is evidence that some one is a high level intelligence officer??
Mon Jun 10, 2013, 02:19 PM
Jun 2013

A friend gave me a DOD baseball cap some years ago.

If you hear me discussing national defense at the airport while wearing that hat, should you conclude I'm a high level official at the DOD?

And wait ... he RECORDED part of their conversation WITHOUT their permission?????

And he's upset about illegal surveillance???

Poll_Blind

(23,864 posts)
4. And I bet when you wear that DoD baseball cap, NOBODY mistakes you for an intelligence officer.
Mon Jun 10, 2013, 02:23 PM
Jun 2013


As to the article, you don't sound like you even bothered to read it.

No surprise there.

PB

JoePhilly

(27,787 posts)
5. I read the article, and there is nothing in it.
Mon Jun 10, 2013, 02:30 PM
Jun 2013

Let's pretend these guys were at some conference.

By coincidence, I was at a conference last week too. It was a technical conference.

Now, knowing that, do you have any idea what my role at the conference was? Was I one of the 3 key note speakers? Am I a VP for one of the companies who ran the conference? Was I one of the many session speakers? Was I leading training sessions? Was I attending training sessions? Perhaps I work with a government agency who leverages one or more of the technologies this conference focused on.

You have no idea.

But this guy overheard 4 guys at the airport ... and he knows who they are and what they do.

And again, I love how he thought it was OK to audio or video tape them without their permission. Clearly he has his own set of lines when it comes to privacy.

Union Scribe

(7,099 posts)
6. Do you normally wear it while loudly suggesting someone be murdered?
Mon Jun 10, 2013, 02:32 PM
Jun 2013

If not, I don't suppose it would ever be an issue.

JoePhilly

(27,787 posts)
8. I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.
Mon Jun 10, 2013, 02:42 PM
Jun 2013

See what I did there?

Ever here that phrase before? Do you think I plan to kill you?

And let's see ... apparently, your position is that 4 guys who actually know about how to have some one killed, are going to discuss killing a specific person, very loudly, in a very public place, and also be serious about it.

Really?

Sounds like the Atlantic is feeling jealous and wants some attention.

JoePhilly

(27,787 posts)
9. Or how about ...
Mon Jun 10, 2013, 02:43 PM
Jun 2013

... "talking shit" in public.

Maybe these guys are government hit men and forgot that you don't talk about your murder plans at the airport.

 

FarCenter

(19,429 posts)
11. Their web site --
Mon Jun 10, 2013, 02:46 PM
Jun 2013
http://www.insaonline.org/i/e/ba/2013/index.aspx

Friday, June 7, 2013

5:30 – 7:30 pm: Reception

6:30 – 7:30 pm: Board Reception

7:30 – 10:00 pm: Program

Who's Expected

The following organizations will be represented:

Accenture

L-3

AdvanTech

Library of Congress

BAE Systems

Lockheed Martin Corporation

Ball Aerospace

MacAulay-Brown, Inc.

Battelle

ManTech International

The Boeing Company

MITRE Corporation

Booz Allen Hamilton

National Archives and Records Administration

CACI

National Intelligence Council

Catapult Consultants

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

Central Intelligence Agency

National Reconnaissance Office

CGI Federal

National Security Agency

The Chertoff Group

National Security Staff

Computer Sciences Corporation

NJVC, LLC

Defense Intelligence Agency

Northrop Grumman Corporation

Deloitte

Office of the Director of National Intelligence

Department of Commerce

Office of the Secretary of Defence

Department of Defense

Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence

Department of Energy

Oracle

Department of Homeland Security

PwC

Department of Justice

QinetiQ - North America

Department of State

Raytheon Company

Department of Treasury

SAIC

Draper Lab

SAP NS2

Drug Enforcement Administration

Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

Eagle Ray, Inc.

The SI Organization

Executive Office of the President

Spadaro & Associates

Federal Aviation Administration

TASC

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Tenax Group

Fluor

Transportation Security Administration

General Dynamics - Advanced Information Systems

United States Air Force

General Dynamics - Information Technology

United States Army

Hewlett Packard

United States Coast Gaurd

House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

United States Cyber Command

IBM

United States Department of Agriculture

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

United States Marine Corps

The Intelligence & Security Academy

United States Navy

Invertix

USIS

ITT Exelis

Verizon

Key W Corporation
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