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It’s doubtful you can find a more succinct example of TDS than a seemingly inebriated Democrat Senator asking the aggregate intelligence apparatus, during a public session of congress, to give specific details of U.S. covert intelligence efforts to thwart Russian, Chinese and North Korean cyber-warfare. As Democrat Senator Joe Manchin professionally restrained himself from laughing, even Democrat Senator Kamala Harris couldn’t avoid the eye-roll. ‘Muh Russia’ is real. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), ranking member of armed services committee, began his mid-day sluration with a ‘resist-we-much‘ effort to continue the vast White House Russian conspiracy narrative, and slowly morphed into a...

People have caught on; it was bound to happen. Back in August 2017 Asst. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein created a special joint task-force within the FBI and DOJ to track down intelligence leakers. The investigative unit was requested by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats. No-one was really paying much attention to it, until recently people started realizing the false media stories were too structured. The stories were fake, but the leaks were real. Someone was seeding congress with carefully constructed false information and then watching to see where that false information surfaced. This is...

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper revised rules in 2013 in a way that made it easier to "unmask" the names of lawmakers or congressional staffers who are incidentally caught in foreign surveillance. The new procedures implemented by Clapper uprooted the previous set of rules that had been in use for just over two decades, according to a report from The Hill. The report relied in part on a newly released memo by the ODNI created in 2013 that said the lawmakers or staffers' names could be unmasked if an intelligence agency under the executive branch thought that "the...

Several stories have emerged with reported details of the testimony given by Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats in a closed-door session before House investigators. And Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) is furious about it. "About eight hours ago, Adam Schiff and I looked Dan Coats in the eyes and we assured him that there would be no selective leaking of his testimony to us. And I’ll be damned if eight hours later, there aren’t three different leaks with what he told us. "So if anyone is questioning why Congressional investigations aren’t taken seriously, and are viewed as political exercises, you...

Is Sen. Ron Wyden trying to warn the public about an unknown government surveillance effort that affects domestic communications? The Oregon Democrat isn’t saying, leaving experts guessing as he presses a cryptic inquiry. On Thursday the privacy advocate's office circulated to reporters a letter Wyden sent to Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, demanding that Coats offer a third answer to a question about government surveillance. The question, first asked by Wyden at a June 7 hearing and restated Thursday, seems straightforward: “Can the government use FISA Act Section 702 to collect communications it knows are entirely domestic?” At the...

According to NBC, the Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats will go back before the Senate Intelligence Committee tomorrow to answer questions in a closed session. This new hearing comes after Coats testified before the same committee in an open session last week but refused to discuss direct conversations with the President in a public session. Of course, just like with Comey’s ‘private session’, somehow we suspect that if anything material is divulged in tomorrow’s ‘private session’ with Coats it will be promptly leaked to the media. As we pointed out last week, Intel Committee Vice Chair Mark Warner didn’t...

Privacy advocates and journalists want to know what Sen. Ron Wyden is up to -- and whether the Oregon Democrat elicited another lie about surveillance from a director of national intelligence during Wednesday's Senate intelligence committee hearing. Wyden asked one of the final questions at the hearing that dealt with the investigation into Russia's role in the 2016 election and with Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which expires later this year if Congress does not act. Wyden, a forceful privacy advocate, asked Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, with whom he had sparred earlier, a simple standalone...

White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has been removed from his seat on the National Security Council, reversing one of the most controversial decisions of young Trump administration.

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President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday picked former Indiana Senator Dan Coats as director of national intelligence, two sources briefed on the decision told Fox News. The official announcement is expected later this week, according to the AP, as Trump makes final decisions on some of the major positions he needs to fill before he is sworn in on Jan. 20. Coats, a Republican, served as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee before retiring from Congress last year. He also served as U.S. ambassador to Germany. As director of national intelligence, Coats would oversee an office created after 9/11 to...

Former Republican Senator Dan Coats of Indiana is the leading candidate to serve as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's director of national intelligence, NBC News reported on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the discussions. Coats met with Trump on Nov. 30 at Trump Tower in New York City.

They’re coming for your home. Right now. I suggest you save it. I can guide you, but you must do exactly as I say. Except, this isn’t The Matrix. You’re no actor, like Keanu Reeves, playing a distraught programmer-hacker named “Neo.” Nor am I an actor, like Laurence Fishburne, playing your guide “Morpheus.” This is real life, baby. Your home or apartment—and the neighborhood in which you live—is under siege. “Agents”—sans black glasses and black business suits—who work for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have written a new regulation called “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” (AFFH) that...

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE)- Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Marlin Stutzman is held a rally at Parkview Field as a final push to connect with Indiana voters ahead of Tuesday’s Primary. U.S. Representatives Marlin Stutzman and Todd Young are both vying for the seat left vacant by Senator Dan Coats. It is one of the most hotly contested local races on the primary ballot. The candidates have fought a bitter battle for the Republican nomination. “It’s hard for me to have Republicans attack me as viciously as they have,” said Stutzman. “But if you can’t take a punch, you shouldn’t...

The IRS is struggling to ensure that illegal immigrants are able to illegally use Social Security numbers for legitimate purposes, the agency's head told senators on Tuesday, without allowing the numbers to be used for "bad" reasons. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen made the statement in response to a question from Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., during a session of the Senate Finance Committee about why the IRS appears to be collaborating with taxpayers who file tax returns using fraudulent information. Coats said that his staff had discovered the practice after looking into agency procedures. "What we learned is that ... the...

Ted Cruz says his hard-line strategy to defund Planned Parenthood and risk a government shutdown is about doing the “right thing” and following through on Republicans' vows to conservative voters. But many of his Republican colleagues say it’s really all about Cruz. Even some of his closest allies from past battles— fellow tried and true tea party Republicans like Sen. Mike Lee of Utah — aren’t exactly jumping to join Cruz’s latest crusade. Same goes for Cruz’s onetime allies-turned-presidential rivals, Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky. As the Texas Republican prepares for a potentially decisive month...

Senate Republicans concede they are not likely to have enough votes to overturn President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran unless they can swing a key Democratic voice against the accord. They’re setting their sights on Hillary Clinton, vowing to tie her to the deal in hopes of pressuring her to oppose it. GOP leaders need 67 votes to override Obama’s expected veto and keep sanctions on Iran in place. The administration has not yet announced an accord but lawmakers expect it to come soon. “It could be a good policy strategy. It’s not going to be hard to come up...

Former Rep. Baron Hill (D-Ind.) on Wednesday became the first Democrat to enter the race to replace retiring Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) in Indiana.

 In a statement posted on Medium, Hill played up his blue-collar roots and deep ties to the Hoosier State. He struck a populist tone in vowing to be a fighter for the Middle Class against the moneyed interests he said control Washington. 

“We can either put our heads in the sand, or we can fight to restore the American Dream, the middle class, and what’s great about Indiana,” Hill said. “I know we can do better,...

Alexandria, VA -- Today, the Senate Conservatives Fund (SCF) announced its endorsement of U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) for the U.S. Senate in Indiana where U.S. Senator Dan Coats (R-IN) is retiring. SCF President Ken Cuccinelli made the following statement: "We're proud to support Congressman Marlin Stutzman for the U.S. Senate in Indiana. He's a proven conservative who believes in limited government, a strong national defense, and traditional values. During his time in Congress, Stutzman has worked to repeal Obamacare, balance the budget, and stop the president’s executive amnesty. He showed great wisdom and courage in opposing the food stamp...

Senators on Wednesday blocked a Republican push to tie Iran's support of terrorism to a final deal on the country's nuclear program. Senators voted 45-54 on the amendment from Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), which would have required President Obama to certify as part of a diplomatic deal that Iran hasn't carried out or directly supported an act of terror against the United States or a U.S. citizen. Republican Sens. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Dan Coats (Ind.), Bob Corker (Tenn.), David Perdue (R-Ga.), Jeff Flake (Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Orrin Hatch (Utah) and John McCain (Ariz.) voted with Democrats against the amendment....

Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) on Tuesday announced that he will not run for reelection in 2016. "Today I am announcing that I will not seek re-election to the United States Senate," Coats said in a statement. "This was not an easy decision. While I believe I am well-positioned to run a successful campaign for another six-year term, I have concluded that the time has come to pass this demanding job to the next generation of