Mass Surveillance: The Government’s Secret Tool To Convict By Violating Rights

A devious process, known as “parallel reconstruction,” lurks behind many cases being brought to trial in America, these days.  It’s actually a mass surveillance tool for the government and it violates the rights of every single person in the United States.

“Parallel reconstruction” is when law enforcement uses secret surveillance techniques to try to find evidence.  Then they try to seek it out again making it look like they didn’t violate rights by being intentionally vague about where they got their evidence, suggesting it wasn’t so nefarious.  Devices like Stingrays are often used by law enforcement in “parallel reconstruction.” Stingrays are devices that behave like fake cellphone towers, tricking phones into believing they’re pinging genuine towers nearby. By using the device, cops can determine a suspect’s precise location, outgoing and incoming calls, and even listen in on a call or see the content of a text message. Real cell phone towers just aren’t that accurate. And all of this is being done without consent or the knowledge of most of the American civilians.

Hemisphere, a massive telephone-call gathering operation revealed by The New York Times in 2013, is one of the most well-documented surveillance programs that government officials attempt to hide when they use parallel construction. The largely secret program provides police with access to a vast database containing call records going back to 1987. Billions of calls are added daily.

In order to create the program, the government forged a lucrative partnership with AT&T, which owns three-quarters of the US’s landline switches and much of its wireless infrastructure. Even if you change your number, Hemisphere’s sophisticated algorithms can connect you with you new line by examining calling patterns. The program also allows law enforcement to have temporary access to the location where you placed or received a call. –Wired

Joe Joseph from The Daily Sheeple says this is just a way for the government to hide from the scrutiny of the public.

A new report released by Human Rights Watch Tuesday, based in part on 95 relevant cases, indicates that law enforcement is using parallel construction regularly, though it’s impossible to calculate exactly how often. And it’s extremely difficult for defendants to discern when evidence has been obtained via the practice, according to the report.

“Really, it’s just a matter of how many times they can get away with it,” Joseph says of parallel construction. “And you also have to wonder: how many times has the use of Stingray actually tied their hands to the fact that they know a crime is being committed. They see it happening, they can’t do anything about it because it would tip their hand that they are using this thing.”

Joseph urges defense attornies to push for the means with which evidence was obtained.  Because more likely than not, these cases are “victimless crimes” and a defendant will be let off to protect the secret rights-violating programs used by law enforcement to convict.

Trump blocks full release of JFK assassination records after last minute CIA push

With much of America clicking furiously all day Thursday on the website of the National Archives, hoping to be among the first to catch the release of thousands of previously unseen JFK Assassination records, the U.S. government was in danger of missing the deadline to release the trove of previously classified records from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, “adding an unexpected twist to a saga already rife with rumors and conspiracies” according to NBC.

Caving to lobbying pressure by intelligence agencies, Trump announced he would not order the release of the full tranche of records, instead following last-minute recommendations of his national security agencies that some of those records be redacted, White House officials said. During a call with reporters, White House officials explained that while some 2,800 JFK records will be released today, the publications of the remaining records has been postponed for 180 days to give agencies more time to figure out what they want redacted. By late Thursday afternoon, the memo specifying which material the CIA, State Department and other agencies still want to keep under wraps had yet not made it to Trump’s desk, intel officials told NBC News.

“There’s a mad scramble going on in the executive branch to get this done,” one official said.

As CBS adds, the delay requests – some of which were registered a couple of months ago and some more recently –  come from agencies throughout the government including the CIA and FBI. Some of the worry seems to center around documents created in the 1990’s, when the congressional committee was crafting the legislation setting Thursday as the release date. Officials told CBS News there is concern the documents may reveal sources and operations from the near past and include current people or operations. Of particular concern, according to officials, are names in the documents.

CBS News’ Chip Reid interviewed JFK scholar Larry Sabato, at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, who said he had been told that “at least most of it will not be released Thursday because not just the CIA, but apparently other agencies, unnamed — I assume the FBI is one — are appealing.”

Sabato says that the CIA wants some of the names in the documents redacted, and some of the paragraphs they say reveal the names of sources or methods used by the CIA.

In any case, the reason behind the delay remains a mystery. As CNN’s Jim Acosta notes, senior administration officials declined to discuss the contents of the files that will be released, including whether they contain evidence of a conspiracy surrounding Kennedy’s death.

I asked officials whether there were any signs of a conspiracy in secret JFK files. Officials on call with reporters would not comment. https://t.co/mz1TxXceEk

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) October 26, 2017

Trump will issue a memo to heads of intelligence agencies saying “the American public expects and deserves its government to produce as much access as possible to the John F. Kennedy assassination records. “I am ordering today that the veil finally be lifted” on the records, the memo will say. The President will also note that law enforcement and foreign affairs agencies have requested that certain records remain redacted.

“I have no choice” but to keep those records under wraps, the memo will say. In his memo, Trump will order intelligence agencies to re-review their reasons for keeping the records redacted, and to report back in 180 days.

What will remain classified?

According to CNN, officials said the sensitive information that will remain redacted for now relates to “intelligence and law enforcement” details. That includes the identity of individuals involved in the investigation into the assassination and their roles as informants to law enforcement, a senior administration official said.

It also includes information about foreign partner organizations that were involved in the investigation, the official said.

“The President heard those justifications from the agencies that requested the continuing postponement and he acknowledged that information … requires protection,” the official said. Agencies requesting continued redaction of certain documents will need to submit a report to the archivist by March 12, 2018, explaining why those documents meet that standard, the White House said.

Documents determined to not meet those standards will need to be released by April 26, 2018.

Trump’s decision to keep some documents secret is likely to keep conspiracy theories alive, fueling those who have long questioned official conclusions about the assassination and argued that the government has helped cover up the truth.

Via Zero Hedge

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Featured Image: Michael Vadon/Flickr

The post Trump blocks full release of JFK assassination records after last minute CIA push appeared first on Intellihub.

“Most Transparent Admin Ever”: Team Obama Busy Destroying Public Records Before Leaving Office

History is routinely made in the White House – and just as routinely destroyed as well.

And though it is criminal and indicates the larger crimes of the deep state, it comes as no surprise.

If these reports are any indications, the shredders in President Obama’s White House are busier now than they were even during the height of the Enron scandal – where reporters found evidence of document destruction by the truckload.

Given that the previous Bush and Clinton Administrations also engaged in a purge of damning information, there is every reason to suspect that the Obama Administration – which the president absurdly touted would be the “most transparent administration in history”

Instead of being transparent, Obama’s two terms have often been accused of being the most secretive, particularly in terms of treatment of whistle blowers and leaks. Additionally, there is a great deal of speculation about what President Obama and his people knew about the questionable and illegal activities surrounding Hillary’s email scandal.

Though Obama himself has maintained that he learned about it in the news, the use of aliases and private email accounts to circumvent public accountability measures on official accounts raises a great deal of doubt about the truth of this claim.

So there is an additional incentive to cover-up, and minimize what the public is able to discover after his time in office is over.

via The American Mirror:

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says the Obama administration is destroying public records in the final days in office.

[…]

“Past administrations of both Republican and Democratic players have engaged in mass destruction of records as they left office… We are told that destruction of records is occurring now in different parts of the Obama administration in different departments or agencies.”

“That’s what happens when an administration leaves office,” Assange said.

 […]

“Our philosophy is that such information is a part of history… To destroy them is absolutely and egregious act… it is done to “eliminate small political risks by destroying major elements of history.”

Julian Assange, who has recently reemerged to deny the link between hacking and the Russian government, made the case for more whistle blowers coming forward.

After eight years of an outright assault on those who’ve attempted to expose the misdeeds of past administrations and various agencies that are rarely held accountable, Assange is encouraging officials to take copies of documents that might otherwise be destroyed during the cleaning-up and white washing of the administration’s mess.

Instead, they should tuck them away so that they can be disseminated to the people at a better or more relevant time.

Assange said, “Our request to system administrators in the Obama administration goes for other administrations around the world as well, is take the data now.

“Just take it now. Keep it under your bed, or with your mother and then you can give that to Wikileaks or other journalists at your leisure,” [Assange] said. “Get hold of that history and protect it, because that is something that belongs to humanity and does not belong to a political party.”

He offered a $30,000 reward to officials who might come forward with revealing documents and information.

Of course, the price for public truth typically can’t compete with the deeply embedded interests of the military industrial complex and the revolving door between government and crony corporations.

However, it may still incentivize some of our “public servants” who are otherwise disturbed by the criminality of the executive branch, and Washington’s continued descent into the destruction of the country.

President Trump, or any president, even with the best intentions, could never single-handedly drain the swamp in Washington. If it is possible at all, it will only be with the help of perhaps thousands of patriotic whistleblowers, former officials and dedicated citizens working to expose the deep-seated corruption and let it vanish like evil spirits in the light of day.

WORD: 5 More Big Fat Lies Obama Is Leaving Us With

Read more:

BREAKING: Julian Assange Suggests MURDERED DNC STAFFER Seth Rich Was Wikileaks Source: “We Have To Understand How High The Stakes Are In the United States”

A Purge Of Journalists Has Begun To Destroy the Free Press: “War on Whistleblowers”

Obama Harassing His Media ‘Enemies’? “Whoever is doing this has extremely advanced technical capabilities”

New Study Confirms: “The United States Is No Democracy… But Actually An Oligarchy” Dominated By The Economic Elite

National Guard Whistleblower: “Doomsday Preppers Will Be Treated As Terrorists”

Wikileaks Offers $20,000 Reward For Info On Obama Admin Destroying Records

January 4, 2017   |   admintam

(ZHE) WikiLeaks is offering a $20,000 reward to anyone who exposes the destruction of “significant records” by a member of the Obama administration. In a tweet on Tuesday evening, Wikileaks said “We are issuing a US$20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest or exposure of any Obama admin agent destroying significant records,” however, it has not explicitly alleged that the administration is suspected of inappropriately eradicating material.

We are issuing a US$20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest or exposure of any Obama admin agent destroying significant records. pic.twitter.com/kRRP246uGo

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) January 4, 2017

The surprising announcement may have been provoked by a previous tweeted in which Wikileaks hinted that the US government is quietly eradicating mentions of the organization from official statements: “‘WikiLeaks’ disappears from US govt statements. Compare 7 Oct 2016, vs 16 December, 2016 & December 29, 2016 JAR”

‘WikiLeaks’ disappears from US govt statements. Compare 7 Oct 2016, vs 16 December, 2016 & December 29, 2016 JAR https://t.co/4jtwXMrTw2 pic.twitter.com/ppDaAO88vj

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) January 3, 2017

Ten minutes prior to offering the reward, WikiLeaks urged any system administrator working under Obama to become whistleblowers: “System admins: Don’t let the White House destroy US history again! Copy now, then send to WikiLeaks at your leisure.”

System admins: Don’t let the White House destroy US history again! Copy now, then send to WikiLeaks at your leisure https://t.co/T4EtSSOKuy

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) January 4, 2017

Embedded in the tweet was a screenshot of a 2009 email sent from Principal Deputy Counsel for the Obama administration Daniel Meltzer to James Messina, then-White House deputy chief of staff. The mail discusses a query from the National Archives as to the whereabouts of a missing and believed stolen two terabyte drive containing electronic records from the Bill Clinton administration. The email was forwarded to Hillary Clinton by aide Cheryl Mills.

As RT adds, Republicans have also run into trouble over their lack of preservation of administration emails. The George W Bush administration lost millions of emails in the lead-up to the war in Iraq, claiming they had been accidentally mislabeled. The messages were later recovered. Federal Law calls for the preservation of presidential records, however personal records are exempt.

The tweets were issued just hours before the airing of the full Sean Hannity interview with Julian Assange, which is already the topic of at least two Trump tweets, as noted earlier. In the first tweet, Trump sided with Assange’s side of the story that Russia was not involved in the hacking of the DNC, as follows “Julian Assange said “a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta” – why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!” In a follow up tweet, Trump quoted Assange in bashing the US press: “Julian Assange on U.S. media coverage: “It’s very dishonest.” #Hannity pic.twitter.com/ADcPRQifH9” More dishonest than anyone knows.”

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This article (Wikileaks Offers $20,000 Reward For Info On Obama Admin Destroying Records) by Tyler Durden originally appeared on ZeroHedge.com and was used with permission. Tune in! Anti-Media Radio airs Monday through Friday @ 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. Help us fix our typos: edits@theantimedia.org.