Bush-era data collection program ends - for now
The
U.S. government now officially finds itself with fewer tools to
investigate terrorism after the National Security Agency was ordered to
stop collecting telephone metadata on millions of Americans.
- Former FIFA VP Jack Warner cites a report by satirical news site in attempt to defend himself
- Warner was among those indicted last week in U.S. investigation into alleged corruption at FIFA
- He later reposted the same statement with references to the bogus article removed
- At 7:44 p.m. Sunday, the National Security Agency's bulk data collection program ended
- The government loses authorities under three Patriot Act provisions
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Ex-FIFA official falls for 'Onion' article
Indicted ex-FIFA official Jack Warner cites 'Onion' article to defend himself
Source: CNN
Story highlights
(CNN)An
embattled former FIFA official has scored a spectacular public
relations own-goal by citing an article by satirical news outlet The
Onion in an attempt to counter criminal charges against him.
Jack Warner, FIFA's former vice-president and a member of parliament in Trinidad and Tobago, was among those arrested last week
in a U.S.-led investigation into corruption in world football. He was
released on bail Thursday and is facing an extradition request from the
U.S. government.
In a video statement posted Sunday to his own warnertv.net
website and social media accounts, Warner brandished a copy of a bogus
news report by the satirical news website as he launched a broadside
against the ongoing U.S. Justice Department investigation into alleged
bribe-taking and racketeering at football's governing body.
The faux news report, titled "FIFA Frantically Announces 2015 Summer World Cup in the United States," jokingly suggested the sporting body had created an alternative tournament to appease U.S. officials.
Warner
accused the U.S. of "double standards" for agreeing to host the
fictional tournament in cooperation with an organization it had accused
of corruption.
"If FIFA is so bad, why is it the U.S.A. wants to keep the FIFA World Cup?" he asks, pointing to a print-out of the report.
He
went on to elaborate his theory: "Why is it the U.S. authorities sought
to embarrass FIFA in Zurich? Something has to be wrong. I made the
point to you over and over that all this... has stemmed from the failed
U.S. bid to host the World Cup."
After Warner's blunder was ridiculed online, the video was removed from his social media accounts, only to be later replaced with an edited version, shorn of the reference to the Onion article. But a version of the original was reposted by a YouTube user.
Charges denied
Warner,
head of Trinidad and Tobago's Independent Liberal Party, declared his
innocence in the wake of last week's indictments and said in a statement
that he had not been interviewed and "the actions of FIFA no longer
concern me."
In May 2011, Warner and
fellow FIFA member Mohammed bin Hammam of Qatar were suspended by FIFA's
Ethics Committee, pending the outcome of an investigation of corruption
allegations against them.
Warner resigned from his position the following month,
and FIFA announced that "all Ethics Committee procedures against him
have been closed and the presumption of innocence is maintained."
On
Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department unsealed information on people
who had pleaded guilty to various charges relating to FIFA in recent
years.
They included Warner's sons
Daryll, a former FIFA development officer who pleaded guilty in 2013 to
two counts related to wire fraud and structuring of financial
transactions, and Daryan, who has forfeited $1.1 million as part of his
plea and will forfeit an undisclosed sum when he is sentenced for wire
fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and the structuring of
financial transactions.
Weather downs solar plane flight
Patriot
Act provisions have expired: What happens now?
Updated 1425 GMT (2125 HKT) June 1, 2015
Source: CNN
Story highlights
Washington (CNN)The U.S.
government on Monday found itself with fewer tools to investigate terrorism --
at least temporarily -- after the Senate let provisions of the Patriot Act
expire Sunday night.
While officials warned of national security risks, it is clear that the
lapse will not come close to debilitating counterterrorism efforts.
The Senate entered a debate period late Sunday on the Patriot Act that
pushed beyond the midnight deadline, effectively ending three provisions of
that law, including the National Security Agency's bulk data collection
program.
The lapse was a huge victory for privacy hawks who have called for
changes to that program and others under the Patriot Act since Edward Snowden
first blew the lid off the NSA's domestic surveillance programs in 2013.
The National Security Agency officially shut down the bulk metadata
collection program officially at 7:44 p.m. Sunday night, a senior government
official told CNN. Officials had previously indicated they would shut the
program down around 8 p.m. to ensure all procedures were in place before
midnight military time.
The Senate is expected to restore the expiring authorities midweek, but
here's what we know will change between now and then:
What counterterrorism tools
does the U.S. lose?
The government loses authorities under three Patriot Act provisions.
White House on Patriot Act: 'There isn't a Plan B' 03:24
PLAY VIDEO
The biggest and most controversial is the government's sweeping powers
under Section 215 that allow the NSA to collect telephone metadata on millions
of Americans and store that data for five years. That is, for the time being,
gone.
Law enforcement officials also won't be allowed to get a roving wiretap
to track terror suspects who frequently change communications devices, like
phones. Instead, they will need to get individual warrants for each new device.
And third, the government loses a legal provision allowing it to use
national security tools against "lone wolf" terror suspects if
officials can't find a connection to a foreign terror group such as ISIS, for
example. But that provision has never been used, the Justice Department
confirmed.
The House overwhelmingly passed a bill, the USA Freedom Act, that would
make big changes to the first, but leave the latter two provisions intact.
That bill would have the telephone companies hold Americans' telephone
metadata and require the government to get a specific warrant to seize any
telephone metadata -- and not on millions of people, but instead on specific
individuals.
So those tools are now
completely gone?
Not exactly.
FBI and NSA officials are allowed to continue using Section 215 and the
roving wiretap provision in investigations they began before the June 1
expiration date.
Any new investigations will have to go without the roving wiretaps and
the ability to petition the secret FISA court for warrants to seize business
records, like telephone metadata, in terrorism cases. That court was
established under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to provide warrants
in national security cases.
The NSA's bulk metadata collection program was actually slated to end at
8 p.m. ET Sunday to ensure the government is in compliance with the deadline by
midnight in military time as well.
Will government tracking of terrorists be interrupted? 01:48
PLAY VIDEO
The process of winding down that program was ongoing last week, and the
NSA was slated to cut off its connections to telecommunications companies
starting at 4 p.m. ET Sunday.
Why is it such a long
process?
Officials said the government began "winding down" the bulk
data collection program during the week leading up to the deadline.
A U.S. administration official who spoke to CNN on the condition of
anonymity to discuss sensitive information said "taking down the
system" involves shutting off inputs between telecom companies and U.S.
intelligence, "bringing down servers" and configuring "our
monitoring software" to keep officials from accessing any data at
telecommunication companies.
"We lock the system down so that there is no chance that data comes
or data could be accessed during that time frame," the official said.
And the Department of Justice spent last week communicating the
potential changes to its authority to collect data to telecommunications
companies, according to a Justice Department official and a telecommunications
company official familiar with the process.
"Really it's about just letting them know that on midnight on the
31st, they're not going to be able to provide the legal documents and the
warrant and we're not going to give them anything," the telecommunications
company official said.
The Justice Department official pointed to "legal and technical
processes that need to occur" for the program to shut down.
So could America be less
safe?
Attorney General Loretta Lynch said last week the United States would face a
"serious lapse" in national security.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in a statement on
Friday the United States "would lose entirely an important capability that
helps us identify potential U.S. based associates of foreign terrorists."
But opponents aren't convinced. Instead, they're determined not to let
fears over national security trump civil liberties and privacy concerns.
This criticism of Patriot Act gets an eye roll 01:54
PLAY VIDEO
The American Civil Liberties Union said Thursday that "efforts to
short-circuit reform efforts should not be allowed to succeed."
"Allowing the provisions of the Patriot Act to sunset wouldn't
affect the government's ability to conduct targeted investigations or combat
terrorism," the ACLU said. "The government has numerous other tools,
including administrative and grand jury subpoenas, which would enable it to
gather necessary information."
What are the facts on the
expiring capabilities?
As it stands, several official review boards -- including a presidential
review group and a government privacy oversight board -- found that the bulk
metadata collection program was not essential to thwarting a single terror
plot.
The Obama administration endorses the plan under the USA Freedom Act to
transform that program.
The roving wiretaps provision that can be used in terrorism cases is
used less than 100 times per year, but officials could be in a bind when it
comes to new investigations.
Authorities could still obtain standard wiretaps on a suspected
terrorists' phone, but a new phone requires a new warrant.
Justice Department spokesman Marc Raimondi said the top-secret nature of
the investigations make even that a challenge.
"When we're chasing a terrorist or a spy, almost everything we have
is highly, highly classified. Normal courts are not set up to handle
that," he said.
Notable leakers and whistle-blowers 15 photos
EXPAND GALLERY
Officials say the rising threat of lone wolves -- including those
inspired by ISIS, but not ordered -- raises the need to maintain that provision
of the Patriot Act.
But they concede the provision had not been used, even as the FBI has
increasingly focused its efforts on lone wolves.
CNN's Pamela Brown contributed to this report.
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