Category Leak Was the Op

Apr 14 2023

The Pentagon Leak and the Power of Social Media


Armstrong Economics Blog/Technology Re-Posted Apr 14, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

The Washington Post revealed that the person leaking information from the Pentagon is not a high-level official. There was no collective effort to access the classified information, and the motive of the leak may surprise you. The leak was first posted on a Discord channel called Thug Shaker Central, led by a man in his 20s who allegedly lives on a military base. A user called Wow_mao spoke with the Post through Discord to say he used his platform for humor and began creating videos as a teen. “I can sort of understand how sharing big private military secrets could be a funny thing to do among your internet friends, but come on. Take care of yourself and stay away from doing stuff like this,” the anonymous user posted on YouTube.

A group of teens and young adults were able to access sensitive information—for fun. They did not need skilled hackers or top intel to access military records, showing how inept our national security has become. Discord is a social media platform that is largely unregulated. It is one of the last platforms where users can speak freely without censorship.

The Post discussed how a few users on social media were able to make the files a global sensation and cause international turmoil. Snowden reached out to countless reporters to reveal his message. WikiLeaks also put forth a campaign to draw attention to thousands of classified documents relating to America’s involvement in Iraq. This time around it only took a few kids on a social platform that is not regulated by the government. I expect Congress to now go after Discord as they did with TikTok. “It’s just a bunch of guys from the internet. How would they know about understanding military war documents?” Wow_mao said. “Many people were like: ‘That’s hilarious. Why are they here?’ And then they moved on with their lives.”

Apr 14 2023

The Leak Was the Op – White House and Congress Demand New Powers, Think Restrict Act, in Aftermath of Classified Intel Leaks


Posted originally on the CTH on April 13, 2023 | Sundance 

Never letting a crisis go to waste is very useful tool, especially when the government creates the crisis.  As CTH has said from the first discussion of the classified intelligence leaks, the “leak is the op.”

The intel leak is the operation created by the Intelligence Community to support new expanded powers for the Fourth Branch of Government.  It should not be a surprise to discover the institution now leading the charge to give more power for U.S. intel agencies, is…. wait for it….. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

The SSCI is the organizational institution that supports the Fourth Branch of Government, the intelligence branch.  The SSCI previously created a bipartisan Restrict Act, to deal with dangerous information on the internet.

According to SSCI Chairman Mark Warner, ‘The Restrict Act’ will give more power and authorities to the Executive Branch to deal with internet danger.  Now the SSCI sees the classified intel leaks as evidence for the importance of the Restrict Act.

Well, butter my buns and call me a biscuit, surprise-surprise!  Funny how that happens.

(Via NBC) – The Biden administration is looking at expanding how it monitors social media sites and chatrooms after U.S. intelligence agencies failed to spot classified Pentagon documents circulating online for weeks, according to a senior administration official and a congressional official briefed on the matter. 

The possible change in the intelligence-gathering process is just one potential shift as officials scramble to determine not only how the documents leaked but also how to prevent another damaging incident.

[…] The president and other officials were dismayed when they learned the documents had been online for at least a month.  “Nobody is happy about this,” said the senior administration official. 

The administration is now looking at expanding the universe of online sites that intelligence agencies and law enforcement authorities track, the official said.

[…]  If the administration tries to check online chatrooms more closely, it will have to navigate legal safeguards designed to protect Americans’ privacy and freedom of expression, former intelligence officials said.

Watching a public chatroom is fair game, but law enforcement agencies don’t have the legal authority to monitor a private online chatroom without probable cause, the former officials said.

“We do not have nor do we want a system where the United States government monitors private internet chats,” said Glenn Gerstell, former general counsel of the National Security Agency from 2015 to 2020. 

[…] Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., said the leak raised yet more questions about how the government manages its secrets, only months after revelations that successive administrations appeared to have mishandled classified documents.  […] “I think it’s time that Congress plays a role here in setting some parameters,” Warner said.  (read more)

Just a few “parameters“…

Swear.

Promise.

Uh huh….

The Restrict Act, also known as Senate Bill 686 [SB686 HERE], also known as the bipartisan bill to empower the executive branch to shut down TikTok.  Also known as the ‘online Patriot Act’.