back to article Feds seek potential 'second Snowden' gov doc leaker – report

A worker at a US government contractor is suspected of being the second leaker who turned over sensitive documents on the US government's terrorist watch list to journalist Glenn Greenwald, according to recent reports. The FBI reportedly searched the suspect's home and opened a criminal case, according to unnamed law …

  1. Keven E.

    "Seven criminal prosecutions for national security leaks were instigated during the first five years of Barack Obama's presidency."

    Explain the relevancy of this statement without offering a comparison time span of a different presidency.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      democratic / republican conspiracy

      I don't think there is a conspiracy to overthrow the first democratic president in a while.. merely that the president/party in power at a given time sets much of the tone and policy... so the seven criminal prosecutions for national security leaks "instigated during the first five years of Barack Obama's presidency" would very much be a result of policy and focus of said president/government/party in power.

      The fact that this is also the current sitting president of the United States of America also means that the policy and focus on 'national security leaks' are likely to still persist.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: democratic / republican conspiracy

        Democratic and Republican, respectively--note the capitalisation. Both are supposed to be democratic (for their own definition of "democracy" anyway).

        [ Also, both are republican since to my knowledge neither of them is suggesting to bring Auld Betty back as their Head of State. ]

    2. chivo243 Silver badge
      Coat

      @ Keven E.

      Bush began this march into to the valley of the damned. The NSA and other acronyms were "allowed" to mature if you will, and now are doing what their handlers had planned all along. You could probably trace this back to Clinton and Sr.

      Coat as El Reg hasn't added the tinfoil hat icon yet

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

        1. Captain DaFt

          Re: Tinfoil hat icon.

          "Lets up vote the request for the tinfoil hat icon"

          I think it'd make a lovely 'Anonymous Coward' icon. The V mask is getting a bit long in the tooth.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Bush began this march into to the valley of the damned. The NSA and other acronyms were "allowed" to mature if you will

        But you have to agree that Obama has taken warrantless & illegal surveillance to an unprecedented level.

        There's an old saying, "Only Nixon could go to China". This refers to the fact that Republicans were so critical of Chinese Communism that only a Republican President could visit China - and this is critical - without criticism of Republicans, who were distrustful of China.

        Now, it's "Only Obama could destroy U.S. privacy rights'. This refers to the fact that Democrats are so protective of personal privacy that only a Democratic President could destroy personal privacy - without criticism of Democrats, who are absolutely loath to criticize a Democratic President.

        1. Keven E.

          "So" protective of... definitions of right and left, perhaps.

          "But you have to agree that Obama has taken warrantless & illegal surveillance to an unprecedented level."

          No, I don't. Obama is just the current figurehead.

          "...who are absolutely loath to criticize a Democratic President."

          I'd have no problem with it if he actually was Democratic. Way too centrist.

          1. Robert Helpmann??
            Childcatcher

            Re: "So" protective of... definitions of right and left, perhaps.

            But you have to agree that Obama has taken warrantless & illegal surveillance to an unprecedented level.

            Don't be silly. Why would I agree to something that by definition is almost impossible to prove? As far as who is destroying privacy rights, presidents from both parties have been taking body shots with turns in between for private industry (e.g. FaceBook).

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: "So" protective of... definitions of right and left, perhaps.

              Don't be silly. Why would I agree to something that by definition is almost impossible to prove?

              What's impossible to prove? Obama has already admitted that he personally authorized this level of surveillance.

              It's impossible for this to happen without Obama's authorization. Why? Because this all costs money. That's why stopping the surveillance is as simple as stopping any government program - just stop the funding. Period. End of story.

              Any government project or program is charged to a distinct account number, just like charging to an individual credit card. To stop the project means stopping the "card". If you try to take money away from another project, that means de-funding another program which is intensely illegal - plus, the people in charge of that program are gonna say "NO", and without their signatures you can't get the money from their "card"

              Despite the sad excuses given here Barack Obama has the sole authority to start and stop these surveillance programs.

              1. tom dial Silver badge

                Re: "So" protective of... definitions of right and left, perhaps.

                "Despite the sad excuses given here Barack Obama has the sole authority to start and stop these surveillance programs." No, not quite true. The Congress can do that, but the President is fairly limited in his authority to not spend appropriated funds. He can, of course, omit funding from programs he dislikes from his budget request, but if they have Congressional support they are liable to be put back. The history of the GE-Rolls Royce F-35 engine is instructive.

      3. Charles Manning

        NSA were amateurs under GWB.

        " The NSA and other acronyms were "allowed" to mature if you will, "

        Perhaps. But the NSA of the Bush era was limited by the technology of the day. That has always been the case.

        In the Obama years surveillance tech has got to be many times more powerful and plentiful. It is not Obama's fault that tech improved, but it is his responsibility to understand the implications. You can't blame GWB for stuff that increased by a factor of 10 since the end of his watch.

        The Utah Data Centre, and indeed the whole Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative were developed under Obama. Sure, bush approved the later, but when Obama took over this was still young enough to have been redirected or reduced.

        1. chivo243 Silver badge

          Re: NSA were amateurs under GWB.

          @Charles Manning

          I wanted to mention McCarthy in my first post, but stayed away from an old parallel. The government knows who is their enemy. No government project that is in the "National Interest" will ever be redirected, or reduced, especially like technology. It is the next "Space Race" or arms development race, and there is no way back.

    3. Charles Manning

      Perhaps it is rather trying to give a frame of reference for the timescale.

      A bit like "a whale the size of three London buses" and other Reg units.

  2. This post has been deleted by its author

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Lazy lazy lazy

    It's evidently not Take Your Editor To Work Day at The Register, because this article shows all the signs of springing from the author's keyboard straight to publication and helped only by a liberal dose of Google News searches. This is journalism now?

    The article is a report on a report coupled with a link to another report on the same report from RT (Russia Today). That's so meta it would make Ben Bradlee's head spin.

    How about the Reg picks up the phone, tracks down a source at the FBI, and asks them to comment? Or calls up Isikoff and asks him for more? You know, engages in the practice of journalism, and not breathless web searches?

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

    2. Peter Gathercole Silver badge

      Re: Lazy lazy lazy

      And RT has not developed a serious anti-US agenda since the situation in Crimea and the Ukraine started, has it!

      When Russia Today started, I was surprised by how apparently neutral it was. I tuned in a few days ago and was (actually not) surprised how that has changed in the last few months, with them predicting the demise of the dollar as a world currency (suggesting Bitcoin as an alternative, of all things), and the rise of a fascist police state in the US. It almost seemed that they were listening to anybody spouting a conspiratorial line. Almost like "Controversial TV" used to be, although that did carry drivel by David Ike as well.

      I wonder whether Mr Putin has been applying pressure on RT. It must be nice to have a personal mouthpiece broadcasting to the world.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Lazy lazy lazy

        Actually, the demise of the dollar has been predicted a while back by a Dutch TV programme, and that scenario is actually playing out, but slower. Personally, I hope it doesn't happen, not so much for the "US" as a whole, but because of the havoc that will follow - they genuinely manoeuvred themselves into a "too big to fail" position and too many will suffer who have done nothing wrong (as far as I can tell from the voting fraud reports, the man in the street may not have voted this or the last president in at all anyway).

        RT, one assumes, will certainly not take the US spin on things, so what we get is a different spin. I doubt you get straight news from any source by now. Money talks, stories come second, facts, well, facts are just plain boring...

  4. Keven E.

    "I don't think there is a conspiracy to overthrow the first democratic president in a while..."

    Irrelevant. Nobody does. Scahil (et.al) is just trying to suck cash out of a controversy... just like most of what Fox news "journalists" report. It's fitting in his picture he's shadowed by a big puppet/statue.

    BTW... the rest of the quote is... "more than twice as many as all previous presidents put together." The suggestion that this, as a "policy", is somehow different than any other administration is *bullpuckets. This is bringing the tools available together to do a job, more specifically successful... and pseudo-transparent. Previous presidents would just "disappear" people (wink).

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I have to say, the RT comments section is fun.

    The government can wiretap your brain, using TAMI space based neural decoders, so you cannot keep it secret..

    Wow. I didn't know they had such powerful drugs over there. Must be nice in outer space...

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    IT WAS ME!!

    I'm SPARTACUS!!!

    It wasn't me really, and while we're on the subject of additional 'icons' i would like a 'Football' one and a Policemans 'Helmet' one.

    The Football one would have the 'handle' "Back of the net" and the Policemans Helmet would have the 'handle' "Comments Police".

    Christmas is coming and these are the presents i want....don't disappoint me El Santa.

    1. Keven E.

      Goal!!!

      Oh..... actual Football! (not handegg)

    2. Someone Else Silver badge
      Coat

      But...but...but....

      We don't use a net in football...we have goalposts.

  7. Justin Pasher

    eak-spa ig-pa atin-la?

    "Justice Department officials are 'reluctant to bring criminal charges involving unauthorized disclosures to the news media' – because of criticisms of the tactics used in recent leak investigations"

    Translation:

    We don't like it when the media hears about the bad things that we do and then say we are doing bad things and make us look bad.

    1. Sir Runcible Spoon

      Re: eak-spa ig-pa atin-la?

      Can it be that they are now aware of the Streisand effect? Wonders will never cease.

  8. phuzz Silver badge
    Black Helicopters

    I did notice a mention that when Greenwald showed Snowden the name of the second leaker, Snowden acted very surprised.

    Possibly this second leaker is considerably higher up the hierarchy in the NSA and this is why they're reluctant to publicise it?

    Don't need a tinfoil hat icon, that's what the black helicopter is for >>>>

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