Intelligence & Surveillance
Just Security’s expert authors provide legal and policy analysis of intelligence and surveillance activities, focusing on their impact on national security and on civil liberties and privacy rights, and their oversight by Congress and the courts.
1,846 Articles
Three Things to Look For in the 2020 “Worldwide Threat Assessment” from the U.S. Intelligence Community
A year ago, very few Americans had ever heard of the U.S. intelligence community’s annual worldwide threats assessment and briefing to Congress. This year, the country should…
The Need for Increased Amicus Role in the FISA Process
Andrew Weissmann, former FBI General Counsel and a lead prosecutor in Robert S. Mueller’s Special Counsel’s Office, writes about the Inspector General's report and proposes…
After the IG Report: “Next Steps” for Congress, DOJ, and the FISA Court
The first in our series on proposals for FISA reform, published in conjunction with a public event on Jan. 16 with Liza Goitein, Andrew McCabe, Julian Sanchez, and Andrew Weissmann…
How Should FOIA Be Reformed to Prevent Further Abuse of Redactions?
To ensure the FOIA is not weaponized and used as an instrument of secrecy, Congress should reform the statute to mirror how the deliberative process privilege is treated in the…
As Conflict with Iran Intensifies, the U.S. Intelligence Community Is Still Leaderless
At a time when policy decisions that should be based on intelligence assessments are being made that bring us ever-closer to full-blown war, it’s critical that we have leadership…
![A redacted email from Elaine McCuster on August 27, 2019 at 12:02am to Eric Chewning and cc-ed David Norquist and John Rood with the subject line, “RE: [Non-DoD Source] Ukraine (USAI funding).” The text of the email is redacted but there is an attachment listed with the name, “smime.p7s”](https://i0.wp.com/www.justsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Screen-Shot-2019-12-30-at-9.54.22-PM-e1578422584340.png?fit=1024%2C418&ssl=1)
Did the Trump Administration Abuse the Redactions Process?
The so-called deliberative process privilege allows federal agencies to redact internal policy debates, but it is often abused.
ICC Holds Historic Hearing on U.S. Torture and Other Grave Crimes in Afghanistan
While “high crimes and misdemeanors” dominated the news cycle in Washington this month, the focus in The Hague was on grave crimes and mistreatment. Just days before the International…
The Inevitable Day of Reckoning in Syria
President Trump's decision to disengage with the YPG and ultimately side with Turkey was rash and immoral, yet fundamentally inevitable.
The Crossfire Hurricane Report’s Inconvenient Findings
"The Inspector General's report fails to turn up anything resembling a Deep State cabal within the FBI plotting against the president, or deliberate abuse of surveillance authorities…
Barr’s Personal, Ad Hoc Declassification Authority and the Role of Congress
Much of Washington is fixated for varying reasons on the release of the report from Michael Horowitz, the Justice Department’s Inspector General, on the origins of the FBI’s…
Social Media Vetting of Visa Applicants Violates the First Amendment
The Knight First Amendment Institute and the Brennan Center for Justice sued the US government to stop social media vetting of visa applicants.
A Call to Arms: Taking the Russia Threat Seriously
A look at the problem posed by President Donald Trump's affinity for Russian President Vladimir Putin from a recently retired CIA Senior Intelligence Service officer.