Spying Archives - The Michigan Star

Federal Prosecutors Spied on Congress in Search for Leaks, Now DOJ Is Being Investigated for It

October 25, 2023October 25, 2023 Just the News

Several current and former congressional oversight staff have been recently informed that the U.S. Justice Department seized their phone and email records back in 2017 as part of leak investigations, belated revelations that have touched off an inquiry by DOJ’s internal watchdog and raised serious concerns about the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches.

Over the last week, several current and former Senate and House staff from both political parties have alerted Congress that they received belated notifications from Apple, Google or other Big Tech firms that their email or phone records were obtained from their personal devices via a grand jury subpoena.

DOJ Inspector General Has No Answer to How Many in Government Can Spy on Americans Through ‘Backdoor’ Searches

April 27, 2023 Michigan Star Staff

Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General Michael Horowitz could not answer how many people in the federal government can use the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) on Americans through backdoor searches when Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz asked him at a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on Thursday.

FISA Section 702 enables intelligence agencies to carry out targeted surveillance of foreigners outside the U.S., but they have improperly used it on Americans. There were 3.4 million backdoor searches in 2021, according to an Office of the Director of National Intelligence 2022 Transparency report.

TikTok CEO Dodges on Whether Company Will Cease ‘Spying’ on Americans

March 23, 2023 Michigan Star Staff

TikTok CEO Shou Chew dodged questions Thursday about whether tactics by parent company ByteDance used to “spy” on American journalists could be used to target more Americans.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington questioned Chew on reporting by Forbes that staff at ByteDance used TikTok data last year to surveil journalists who were covering the company, gaining access to their IP addresses to track whether they had been in proximity to ByteDance employees.

Pro-Life Group Alleges the FBI Is Spying on Its Operations

March 5, 2023March 4, 2023 Michigan Star Staff

Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy and Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz sent a letter Wednesday to Attorney General Merrick Garland asking for answers about the FBI’s alleged spying on a pro-life group.

Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU) alleges that an FBI informant infiltrated and recorded their meeting on Jan. 19 at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. The individual believed to be an informant, who goes by the name Eric Mike Santos, wasn’t personally known to other attendees, the group said in its Feb. 22 press release.

Michigan Supreme Court Could Decide Warrantless Government Drone Spying Lawsuit

October 29, 2022October 28, 2022 The Center Square

An appeal filed with the Michigan Supreme Court says the government must get a warrant before it can surveil private property for evidence.

The Institute for Justice, a public interest law firm, says the government violated the Fourth Amendment when it used warrantless drone surveillance to snap pictures of Todd Maxon’s 5-acre property in Long Lake Township where he repairs cars, as proof of zoning violations.

‘Coordinated Campaign on a Grand Scale’: US, UK Spymasters Issue Dire Warning on Chinese Espionage

July 7, 2022July 6, 2022 Michigan Star Staff

by Micaela Burrow Heads of intelligence agencies in the U.S. and UK warned against a widespread Chinese espionage campaign in a unique joint statement Wednesday. FBI Director Christopher Wray and MI5 Director General Ken McCallum addressed an audience of leaders in business and academia outside of the MI5 headquarters…

Tucker Carlson: A Whistleblower Warned Me That the NSA Has Been Spying on My Communications

June 30, 2021June 29, 2021 Michigan Star Staff

Fox News host Tucker Carlson Monday night accused the Biden administration of spying on him in an attempt to find something scandalous to leak that could get him taken off the air.

Carlson told his audience that the “War on Terror” under the Biden Regime had pivoted, and was now “being waged against American citizens—opponents of the Regime.”

Police Officer Accused of Spying for Chinese Government to be Released on $2 Million Bond

February 15, 2021February 14, 2021 Michigan Star Staff

A federal judge ruled on Friday that a former NYPD officer accused of spying for the Chinese will be released on bail immediately, according to the New York Post.

The officer in question, Baimadajie Angwang, was recently diagnosed with COVID-19 while awaiting trial in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn according to the Post.

Commentary: TikTok is Just the First Chinese App the Trump Admin is Eyeing for Crackdown Over Spying

August 4, 2020August 4, 2020 Michigan Star Staff

Two days after President Trump told reporters that he plans to ban TikTok from the United States, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested in an interview with Fox News that executive action may soon be taken against many other apps owned by Chinese firms.

Trump remarked to journalists aboard Air Force One on Friday that he could ban TikTok “with an executive order,” suggesting that the president has made up his mind about the popular short video platform. TikTok, which is owned by Chinese tech conglomerate ByteDance, has been at the center of a months-long debate over whether the data that it collects from American users could be exploited by China’s government.

American Paul Whelan Convicted of Spying in Russia, Sentenced to 16 Years in Prison

June 16, 2020June 15, 2020 The Associated Press

A Russian court convicted an American corporate security executive Monday of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in prison after a closed trial that the U.S. denounced as a “mockery of justice,” and it angrily said his treatment in jail was “appalling.”

Paul Whelan, a former Marine from Novi, Michigan (pictured above), has insisted he was innocent, saying he was set up when he was arrested in Moscow in December 2018 while he was visiting Russia to attend a friend’s wedding.

Commentary: The FBI’s Darkest Hour

December 28, 2019December 30, 2019 Michigan Star Staff

by Adam Mill One can imagine the unspoken question hanging in the darkness during the January 2017 ride back to the airport. A small gaggle1 of FBI agents had just concluded their long-overdue interview with Christopher Steele’s primary sub-source. The silence must have been deafening. Steele had tried to conceal2 his…

UCLA Professor Found Guilty of Conspiring to Steal US Missile Guidance Technology for China

July 9, 2019July 8, 2019 Admin

by Ethan Cai A jury found an electrical engineer and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) professor guilty of exporting stolen U.S. military technology to China. UCLA adjunct professor Yi-Chi Shih was convicted June 26 on 18 federal charges, Newsweek reported, and could now lose hundreds of thousands of dollars, while also facing…