57
votes
What would Ukraine gain by disclosing intelligence information about Putin assassination plans?
An important part of remaining in power as a dictator is the general impression that it is inevitable that the dictator will remain in power (at least for the medium term) — because then challenging ...
- 12.7k
39
votes
Do former US presidents have the right to receive daily CIA briefings?
Do former US presidents have the right to receive daily CIA briefings?
In Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush by Jon Meacham, published in 2015, there is a statement,...
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15
votes
What would Ukraine gain by disclosing intelligence information about Putin assassination plans?
As you note, it's entirely reasonable to conclude that if this information legitimately exists in the hands of Ukrainian intelligence services, it was not released to the media voluntarily.
However, ...
- 16.4k
12
votes
Accepted
Why do countries sometimes not want to share intelligence on an investigation even if they are allies?
The general reason that a country doesn't share all information with its allies is that the operational standard of information sharing is "need to know." The article asserts
Experts say ...
- 6,570
11
votes
To what extent has the Pegasus spyware been used by Israeli covert services?
The question given at the end of the body references both Israel and "Western powers." Using that broader category, the answer appears to be to a significant extent. According to an ...
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11
votes
Why has the UK chosen to use Huawei infrastructure when Five Eyes allies haven't?
It's difficult to say for sure as the arguments are not made public.
However, we can speculate that it is most likely due to commercial pressure. Huawei dominates the 5G market, being well ahead in ...
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9
votes
Why do countries sometimes not want to share intelligence on an investigation even if they are allies?
"We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual." - Lord Palmerston, future Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1848.
A similar quote ...
8
votes
What is the expectation that the US intelligence community must answer questions posed in congressional hearings?
Basically, one has to answer all questions unless –
the witness exercise his right against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment
the information is classified
the President asserts his "...
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8
votes
Why has the UK chosen to use Huawei infrastructure when Five Eyes allies haven't?
The UK is caught between a rock and a hard place (well worth a listen).
On the one hand side, you have a big trade partner that's made all the more important with the looming Brexit, China, and its ...
- 30.5k
7
votes
What would Ukraine gain by disclosing intelligence information about Putin assassination plans?
As suggested recently by a well know Ukrainian politologist Vitaly Portnikov, nobody who is actually plotting a coup releases the details of the planned coup to any intelligence services. Much less to ...
- 10.4k
7
votes
Accepted
Is the postponement of the release of the Intelligence Security Committee’s report on Russian interference in UK elections abnormal?
No, it is not normal.
The Government provided two examples of previous reports that each happened to take (A) ten days for the Government to confirm were OK to publish and (B) six weeks for ...
- 5,106
7
votes
Why do countries sometimes not want to share intelligence on an investigation even if they are allies?
Because it can lead to intelligence assets being compromised either getting killed/destroyed or no longer being able to provide useful information. This can either be from information that gets leaked ...
- 15.4k
7
votes
What is the origin of this statement? I have seen it on multiple Slavery and Human Trafficking Statements on intelligence firm's websites
On December 16, 2002, President George W Bush signed National Security Policy Directive (NSPD) 22, and it was entitled "Combating Trafficking in Persons"
As a result of that, on January 30, ...
- 1,291
6
votes
Accepted
Are countries required to reveal intelligence when they use an intelligence to arrest a government official of another country?
No. What a country does within its own borders is its own matter.
Under diplomatic conventions, diplomats have immunity from arrest or prosecution. However, diplomats can be expelled without the ...
- 115k
6
votes
To what extent has the Pegasus spyware been used by Israeli covert services?
The most important thing to remember is that what we know about this mostly results from a leaked list of telephone numbers analysed by Amnesty International (which then found spyware on some phones ...
- 30.5k
5
votes
Do sub-national governments spy on each other?
It's the information age: spying is everywhere...
That being said, spying on the national level is almost always concerned with security. National governments are worried about military movements, ...
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5
votes
Accepted
Pentagon: "The intelligence that we provide to Ukraine is legal, is lawful." Is there even a recognized concept of legal and/or lawful intelligence?
Here's the entire relevant section from a 2019 CRS report on the matter [minus the footnotes]:
Policy and Legal Authorities
Policy and authorities for initiating and managing ties between the [...
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5
votes
Accepted
Has the Biden administration detailed what violations of the Open Skies treaties it accuses Russia of?
Not specifically since coming to power, as far as I'm aware. The AP piece which broke the story states that "officials were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of ...
CDJB♦
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4
votes
What is the expectation that the US intelligence community must answer questions posed in congressional hearings?
Of primary relevance to your question is the fact that the persons giving testimony were doing so without having been served with a subpoena to testify.
Voluntary testimony is, well, voluntary and ...
- 141
3
votes
Trump's presidential record to denounce Russia for wrongdoing
I don't know if this article answers the question perfectly — and it was written on August 4, 2020, so it misses the Russian hacking incident and anything else in the last 5 months of the year — but ...
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3
votes
Why has the UK chosen to use Huawei infrastructure when Five Eyes allies haven't?
The UK has the "Huawei cyber security evaluation centre" in Banbury, Oxfordshire. The staff are Huawei employees who hold UK security clearance and also report to the UK services. This allows them to ...
- 22k
3
votes
Is there any authority of note in the US that explicitly doesn't subscribe to the conclusion that a Chinese lab leak was the likely cause of Covid-19?
It appears that there is still some division about the origins of COVID-19. While the article doesn't list which of the agencies still believe it originated from an animal it does say 4 still draw ...
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2
votes
Accepted
Do countries use a shared intelligence database at borders?
https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/borders-and-visas/schengen-information-system_en
The Schengen Information System (SIS) is the most widely used and largest information sharing ...
- 22k
2
votes
Did Devin Nunes ever reveal evidence of unmasking abuse?
There has never been any actionable intelligence that anything inappropriate was leaked about Trump's transition team. Both Republicans and Democrats have looked at the data and have found no ...
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2
votes
Do the interviews with neighbours, coworkers etc. conducted for a US background check (like SSBI) pose a kind of intelligence risk?
Any risk presented by conducting such interviews is presumably far lower than the risk of not conducting them.
The question seems to assume that the fact that a person is being considered for top ...
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2
votes
Back Channels of Communication Between US and Russian Military
Such channels do exist but answering the question is nearly impossible, since:
they are usually kept secret
these channels are frequently informal
Condolezza Rice in her autobiography No higher ...
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2
votes
Back Channels of Communication Between US and Russian Military
In 1963, the USA and the USSR established a hotline, dubbed the "red telephone" (likely as a communist reference) officially known as Washington-Moscow Direct Communications Link, likely ...
- 2,446
2
votes
Have there been confirmed cases of Unmasking Abuse?
According to declassified ruling of the FISA court, in March of 2016, NSA Director Rogers became aware of improper access to raw FISA data and ordered an internal audit. The issue here is ...
- 7,967
2
votes
What would Ukraine gain by disclosing intelligence information about Putin assassination plans?
I see nothing but benefits for them regardless of if it’s true or not. It might plant a seed for someone to actually attempt it, it probably makes Putin even more paranoid and unhinged which in turn ...
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