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Jen Easterly

After an eight-month void in official leadership, the U.S. Senate this week confirmed former Obama-era senior National Security Agency official Jen Easterly to lead the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) amid increasingly frequent digital attacks.

Easterly, who formerly served on the National Security Council as Special Assistant to President Barack Obama and as Senior Director for Counterterrorism, among other roles, takes the reins from Brandon Wales, who has served as acting director of the agency since November. Her approval was unanimous, following delays caused by U.S. Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), who sought to slow the appointment of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials to force President Joe Biden to visit the U.S.-Mexican border.

It is unfortunate that political games delayed her confirmation, but we are pleased the Senate has finally acted to confirm Jen Easterly as CISA Director, House Chairs Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Yvette Clarke (D-NY), of the Committee on Homeland Security and the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection & Innovations, respectively, said of Easterlys appointment. At a time when cyber threats are increasing and evolving, Jen Easterly brings the experience and leadership needed to strengthen our nations cybersecurity. We look forward to working with her to ensure CISA is best positioned to fulfill its mission of protecting Federal networks and critical infrastructure.

CISA is in charge of improving cybersecurity in the government, coordinating cybersecurity efforts with states, and countering private and nation-state hackers. Recent days, however, have stressed the current limits of such capabilities. Formed in 2018 out of DHSs cyber operations, CISA has struggled to protect the nations physical and digital infrastructure against a mounting slew of attacks, even as new legislation heaps new duties on its roughly 2,500 personnel.

Today, CISA finds itself at the forefront of several major cyber incidents impacting both federal networks and the private sector, U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-NY), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said. Now more than ever, our nations lead civilian cybersecurity agency needs strong leadership. Jen Easterly has a proven record of success in government and industry alike, and I applaud her confirmation by the Senate. Our nation is at a crossroads when it comes to our cybersecurity posture, and I look forward to working with Ms. Easterly to ensure CISA has the resources, workforce, and authorities it needs to effectively carry out its mission.

This year has seen an increase of high-profile cyberattacks, including the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack in May by an alleged Russian cybercrime gang, which crippled the energy infrastructure and supplies for nearly half of the East Coasts liquid fuels. Kaseya, an IT solutions developer, was also hit in July in a ransomware attack that exploited authentication controls to hit hundreds of small to medium-sized companies throughout the United States.

Additionally, the national security infrastructure is still reeling from the SolarWinds hack at the end of last year, which has been declared one of the most devastating in history. Global software supply chains were proven to be highly vulnerable, and the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security, Agriculture, and Commerce were all among those compromised. Officials later alleged the hackers involved in that attack were linked to Russia.

Amid an uncertain time for both the public and private sectors security, many seem to be lauding an old and steady hand added for the fight. While thanking the outgoing director for his efforts in an acting capacity, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, in particular, applauded the addition of Easterly as the second-ever Senate-confirmed director to head CISA.

Jen is a brilliant cybersecurity expert and a proven leader with a career spanning military service, civil service, and the private sector, Mayorkas said. I am proud to welcome her to the DHS team and look forward to working together to protect our country from urgent cybersecurity and physical threats.

Read more here:
Former NSA official Jen Easterly confirmed as director of CISA - Homeland Preparedness News

India and Pakistan flags (PTI file photo)

Pakistans National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf said on Wednesday that it was Indias responsibility to start the dialogue with Islamabad by reversing" its actions in Jammu and Kashmir. India abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 on August 5, 2019 and bifurcated it into two Union territories.

According to an official statement, Yusuf briefed the Senate Committee on Defence & National Security on Pakistans role in the changing regional scenario, Pakistan-American relations, Pakistan-India relations and the impact of the evolving situation in Afghanistan following the American militarys exit. The onus was on India to start the dialogue process after reversing the wrongs" in Kashmir, Yusuf said, referring to the August 5, 2019 decision.

India has maintained that the issue related to Article 370 of the Indian Constitution was entirely an internal matter of the country. India has made it clear to Pakistan that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Islamabad in an environment free of terror, hostility and violence.

Pakistan had downgraded ties with India and suspended trade after the Indian government revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. Talking about ties with the US, Yusuf said a broad-based roadmap is being developed for Pak-American relations which includes cooperation in commerce and trade, investment including vaccine manufacturing, climate change and military-to-military relations as well as promoting regional economic connectivity.

Regarding Afghanistan, he said Pakistans perspective is very clear in promoting an inclusive political settlement with a view to ensure that Afghan territory is not used against Pakistan and Pakistan to ensure his commitment that its territory will not be used against any country. The international community is also being informed about Pakistans concerns about the potential fallout of the Afghan crisis particularly in the new influx of refugees, he said.

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Pak NSA Says India Should 'Reverse' Its Actions in Kashmir to Start Dialogue - News18

A group of House Republicans sent a Tuesday letter to the National Security Agency (NSA) demanding information about allegations the agency illegally spied on Fox News host and Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson.

The Daily Caller first obtained the letter, which was spearheaded by Republican Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert and Republican Florida Rep. Bill Posey. In the letter, the lawmakers call on the NSA to provide them with information about allegations that the agency was spying on Carlson in regards to communication with U.S.-based Kremlin intermediaries pertaining to a potential interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Axios reported. The Axios report referenced two sources familiar with Carlsons communications.

In late June, Carlson said that the NSA was spying on him, and reading confidential texts and emails in order to try and take his show off the air. (RELATED: Tucker Carlson Says He Has Confirmed The NSA Is Spying On Him)

Its illegal for the NSA to spy on American citizens, its a crime, Carlson said. Its not a third-world country. Things like that should not happen in America.

The NSA denied the allegations from Carlson.

The letter was signed by 15 other House Republicans who all called for the following information:

READ THE LETTER HERE:

(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) by Henry Rodgers

After the disturbing treatment of Donald Trump by the Deep State, it should come as no surprise that intelligence agencies are continuing their illegal surveillance of Americans who dare to challenge power-hungry elites in Washington, D.C., Gohmert said in a statement to the Daily Caller. Reports about the NSA spying on Tucker Carlson are reminiscent of something one would expect to see in a tyrannical dictatorship, not the United States of America where citizens supposedly still have Constitutional rights. The Agencys attempt to explain itself thus far has only raised more questions that Mr. Carlson and every citizen of this country deserve to have answered. (RELATED: It Increasingly Looks Like Tucker Carlsons Private Emails Were Leaked To The Media By The Government)

Spying, unmasking, and leaking the private communications of American citizens weaponizes our intelligence agencies, and this abuse of power must stop. Protecting national security is not only about deterring enemy threats, but it also involves safeguarding our liberties, Posey told the Daily Caller. (RELATED: Tucker Carlson Says NSA Is Leaking The Contents Of His Emails To Journalists)

The Daily Caller contacted the NSA about the letter to which they did not immediately respond.

Read more from the original source:
EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans Demand Information From NSA About Allegations The Agency Illegally Spied On Tucker Carlson - Daily Caller

According to a popular saying, justice delayed is justice denied. But what if a person is convicted for a crime that he never did and was just a mere suspect. This is the outright injustice and absolutist nature of the state. A commoner gets up in the morning, goes to work, gives his everything there, comes back home exhausted and sleeps peacefully at night. He can do so without any stress because he knows that the state machinery is patrolling the streets at night. He can do so because he knows that if any mishap is to happen, he can go to the police, who will help him.

In case of any conflict, he can knock on the doors of the judiciary who will protect his interests. If the fundamental rights are harmed, they can directly approach the Supreme Court of India. But what if a persons trust in the state machinery and its policies fly right through the window. He is left with nothing but fear, panic and insecurity. Given the present circumstances, peoples trust in state machinery is waning away. Pandemic has rendered many people jobless; those who have jobs are demoted, businesses are shutting down, and people move towards poverty.

The cherry on top was that the gross revenue collection of the central government was near than pre-pandemic levels. This is absurd and unrealistic because if the income of people of a nation reduces, the tax collection must reduce. This mighty figure owes itself to increased excise duty on petrol and diesel. The government shifted the burden of filling its treasury from corporate tax profit to the shoulders of a commoner who is already grappling with death, despair and low income. The recent survey by RBI in Consumer Confidence Index CCI shows that the consumers have bleak economic expectations for the coming year.

Despite all these hardships, a person can still sleep peacefully at night knowing that the state will protect him if a conflict arises, but draconian acts like the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act UAPA and National Security Act NSA do not foster such feelings. The Indian judiciary is notorious for corruption, delays and opaque working. There are several circumstances where a wrongfully convicted person under the UAPA and NSA spent years in jail and was finally acquitted. Pakistan is notorious for harbouring terrorist organisations and funding terrorism activities in India.

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said that one could choose his friends but not neighbours. Given Indias present situation and its conflict with neighbouring countries like Pakistan and China, stringent laws that reduce terrorism are necessary. But caution must be used while slapping terrorism charges because these charges, whether proven or not, can destroy a persons life. A person who is convicted under terrorism charges, later acquitted, is not accepted in society. He cant avail visa, get employment in his home country and live a life of dignity and respect.

NSA is a colonial-era act that traces its history to the Rowlatt Act of 1919. National Security Act was passed in 1980 by a parliamentary act. This act aims to provide preventive detention powers to the government in some instances and matters connected. This act is applicable throughout the country. A person can be detained by the central government or state government if the government has reasonable reasons to believe that the individual is a threat to the security of India, its relations of India with foreign countries, public order, supply of essential services.

The act also allows the detention of foreigners for regulation and expulsion from the country. NSA is invoked if a police officer on duty is assaulted. According to the act, a person can be detained for 12 months maximum, but the detention can be extended if the government finds evidence.Article 22 of the Constitution, which protects against arrest and detention in some instances, states two types of detention preventive and punitive.

Punitive detention is granted as a punishment for a crime committed by an individual. A person is put under punitive detention after an offence or attempt of offence takes place.Preventive detention, on the other hand, is granted if the state has reasonable doubts and suspicion that a person will commit a crime. Preventive detention is offered to prevent a person from committing or attempting to commit a crime. Under NSA, the arrestee has no basic rights, including information about the reason for the arrest; the arrestee is not entitled to legal aid in matters connected to the proceedings.

If a person is detained under NSA, the detention is not recorded in the National Crime Records Bureau NCRB. NCRB collects data related to crime in the country. There is no FIR registered against NSA because of which there are no statistics.Experts argue that the government uses NSA as extrajudicial power. The NSA has come under scrutiny for misuse by the authorities. NSA is many times equated with anarchism. The proceedings and the final report of the advisory board are kept under wraps.

NSA was used unjustly against people like Chandrashekhar of Bhim Army, Dr Kafeel of Uttar Pradesh for protesting against CAA; it was imposed against three men in a village of Uttar Pradesh for conflict over a cricket match, it was imposed against three men accused of cow slaughter, it was imposed against journalist KishoreChandra for criticising BJP etc. The act has drawn criticisms from people inside and outside the country, stating it as a violation of human rights. Amnesty International and the South Asian Human Rights Documentation Centre have expressed concerns for the same.

The unlawful activities prevention act was passed in 1967 by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. It was passed to upgrade TADA and POTA acts which are both anti-terrorism acts. The act allows the government to declare an individual, group of individuals as a terrorist if he promotes, prepares and aids terrorist activities. The investigation under UAPA allows NIA officials to freeze and seize the financial assets of the accused. The act allows officers to prosecute foreign nationals as well as citizens of India. The act was upgraded to bring India at par with international practices against terrorism, speed up the investigation process against terrorist organisations.

The amendment in the act allows an individual to be deemed a terrorist, which wasnt the case before. The act has come under scrutiny because of its low conviction rate. The Ministry of home affairs in Rajya Sabha produced data that shows that the actress conviction rate of 2.2%. The act harms the fundamental rights of individuals for free speech as it gives absolute powers to the government for prosecution. There have been instances where people who were wrongfully convicted under UAPA spent years in jail and were later acquitted.

Bashir Ahmad Baba of Kashmir spent 11 years in Vadodara jail who was held under UAPA charges, Mohammed Habib spent four years in prison under UAPA charges, Illyas Mohammed Akbar and Mohammed Irfan Gaus spent nine years in jail under UAPA charges, Father Stan Swamy spent almost a year in jail under UAPA charges and later died, Asif Iqbal Tanha Debangana Kalita Natasha Narwal spent time under detention. All these people, after spending more than legal time in jail, were later acquitted. The courts and government fail to understand is failure of government machinery if a person is detained for a decade for a crime he did not commit.

Unlawful and wrongful detention has serious consequences on a person life ranging from mental health, physical health, social life, life with dignity, future economic prospects is. The list is endless. The Supreme Court of India, citing international examples like New Zealand and Ireland, started granting compensation for loss of liberty due to malicious imprisonment. The Supreme Court held it in cases like Khatri, Beena Sethi, Rudra Shah, Bhim Singh, Raghuvansh DiwanChand Bhasin, Babloo Chauhan and Bilkhis Yakub Rasool.

But always remember that monetary compensation can never return the life lost under wrongful detention.

Read more:
Unjust provisions of UAPA and NSA have no place in 21st century - Inventiva

In the latest phase of her record sentence for whistleblowing, former National Security Agency linguist Reality Winner is a short drive to the blazing hot summertime beaches on Texass Gulf coast. But she cant get near them. She cant even go into the yard of a neighbor who invited her to aid in his beekeeping project.

Convicted under the Espionage Act for having shared a classified document on threats to election security with the media, Winner has been released to home confinement but wears an unwieldy ankle bracelet. It beeps even if she strays too far within her familys yard.

Not wanting her to miss out, a high school friend showed up on a recent day with a kiddie swimming pool and some sand. Mom, Im going to the beach today, Winner said, her mother Billie Winner-Davis recalled. The pair filled the kids toy and Winner waded in.

Winners family and friends are thrilled to have her home after four years behind bars a stint that took miserable turns as her release date neared. Shecontracted Covid-19 as part of a mass infection in her prison, filed a sexual assault complaint against a guard, and went thirsty and cold when her facility lost heat and water in February during Texass deadly winter storm.

I really want the public to know that theyre not seeing Reality Winner, theyre not hearing from Reality Winner, because she is under some serious restrictions.

Despite their elation that she is out of prison, though, Winners family and friends say she is far from free. Every day is still marked by intrusions, like the app carceral authorities require her to put on her phone to monitor her and needing prior approval to go to Walmart with her mother for errands. Winner is projected to be transferred from home confinement to supervised release in November.

Thats why they are continuing their year-and-a-half-long campaign for a presidential pardon or clemency, saying the whistleblower is being gagged from telling her own story.

I really want the public to know that theyre not seeing Reality Winner, theyre not hearing from Reality Winner, because she is under some serious restrictions, Winner-Davis said.

Winner-Davis added that Reality, who is under a gag order, is also banned from using social media, a condition her attorney, Alison Grinter, said is normal and up to the discretion of halfway house authorities.

Grinter, speaking recently on Democracy Now, said a pardon for Winner is both something she and her country deserve.

Reality released a document that gave us information that we needed to know at a time that we absolutely needed to know it, Grinter said. And she was in prison not because the information was a danger or put anyone in danger. She was in prison to salve the insecurities of one man who was concerned about the validity of his election win.

Left/Top: Reality Winner sits on her bed at her mothers home while charging her ankle monitor as she serves a home confinement sentence in Kingsville, Texas, on July 3, 2021. Right/Bottom: A landscape near Reality Winners home in Kingsville, Texas, on July 3, 2021.Credit: Photos: Christopher Lee for The Intercept

Winner is currently serving the longest prison sentence of its kind under the Espionage Act, a World War I-era law used in recent years to send journalists sources to prison, even as comparable defendants have simply gotten probation for charges of mishandling classified information.

The government itself acknowledges that Winners intent was to send the document she leaked to journalists and therefore warn the American public, rather than use it for personal gain. The NSA report detailed phishing attacks by Russian military intelligence against local U.S. election officials and was published in a June 2017 article by The Intercept. (The Press Freedom Defense Fund which is part of The Intercepts parent company, First Look Institute supported Winners legal defense.)

Released from a Fort Worth, Texas, federal prison one day shy of the four-year anniversary of her June 3 arrest, Winners path to her parents remote southern Texas home was a bumpy one. The journey began with a 23-day quarantine with five other women in a hospital patient-sized room. After that, her family picked her up for a long drive down through Texas in which they had a matter of hours to deliver her to a halfway house, where she stayed for a week before being released toher rural childhood home. There, paper labels with Arabic vocabulary words are still taped to household items early remnants from the series of events that would lead her to prison when, as a teenager eager to learn foreign languages, she signed up for the military.

Taking advantage of the window of time they had with her as they drove her to the halfway house, her family and close friends planned a series of surprises. Winner met her infant niece, whom the whistleblower had only seen on video chats and Shutterfly-printed postcards, due to visitation bans at prisonamid the pandemic.

While sitting in her parents car and sorting through her belongings, she saw the blond hair of her sister, Brittany Winner, in the distance in a park and tried to jump out of the moving vehicle. She dropped everything on her lap and just ran, her mother said. She ran to Brittany and the baby.

Her sister said the whistleblower was trembling, still unnerved by a guard who had told her that morning that she would not be released. Just the look in her eyes, she almost looked, like, dead, so traumatized and not really believing that everything was happening, Brittany Winner said. And, at some point, I was talking to her, she just reached up in the middle of my sentence to touch my face, and she said, Youre real, right?'

At the southernmost point in their trip toward home, two other loved ones were waiting for her: Wendy Collins, a family friend from Philadelphia who spearheads a social media campaign calling for her pardon, and Collinss partner.

They ate at a Thai restaurant as they counted down the minutes to her report time to the halfway house. Collins hugged the whistleblower for the first time since their friendship and Collinss tireless advocacy began.

Collins said, I flew for the hug.

Reality Winner gives her dog a kiss as they play outside at her mothers home in Kingsville, Texas, on July 3, 2021.

Photo: Christopher Lee for The Intercept

Reality Winner sits in a tarp full of beach sand, brought to her by a friend, at her mothers home in Kingsville, Texas, on July 3, 2021.

Photo: Christopher Lee for The Intercept

At her familys quiet home, Winner schedules her days in an orderly way, similar to her life before the arrest time slots for online yoga courses, cycling exercise routines, and a new part-time job as a researcher for a documentary filmmaker. She relishes spending time with her family dog, Domino, and cat, Fiona, since Winner lost ownership of her own pets, a dog named Mickey and cat named Mina, in the chaos after her arrest. In her down time, she sorts through books supporters have sent her and boxes of belongings from her Augusta, Georgia, home, which was raided by a fleet of armed federal agents whose interrogation of Winner would later be characterized by the government as a voluntary interview one in which she was never read her Miranda rights.

When the heat breaks in the evenings, her mother says Reality prefers to not watch TV, opting instead to breathe in fresh air on the back patio.

Shes seen people from all walks of life just be completely taken advantage of by the system, especially people of color. And that is something that she just cant tune out.

Looking toward the future, when she can speak publicly and take more control over her life, her sister said she expects the whistleblower to advocate for incarcerated people. Shes seen people from all walks of life just be completely taken advantage of by the system, especially people of color, Brittany Winner said. And that is something that she just cant tune out. She cant just live her quiet life.

When shes free to go to the water the Gulf of Mexico, not the kiddie pool out back the whistleblower hopes to go the Texas shoreline to plant mangroves, something Winner, long an environmental advocate, told her sister she wants to do in order to heal coastal ecosystems.

Grateful for even this incomplete freedom, the sisters send each other a near-constant flurry of updates. Not a day goes by when she and her sister dont exchange50 or more text messages and phone calls, including baby photos and videos of Reality practicing yoga with her ankle bracelet in her parents garage. I feel lucky to have my sister back, Brittany Winner said. And one of the things that I was scared of was that she was going to be changed you know, like damaged, like she wasnt going to be the same person because of four years in prison.

How can that not mess you up? But despite the trauma, I feel like shes the same,she said. At least with me. Shes the same person.

Originally posted here:
Home, but Not Free: NSA Whistleblower Reality Winner Adjusts to Her Release From Prison Taylor Barnes - The Intercept