Three individuals have been arrested on charges of operating a “high-end brothel network” in Massachusetts and Virginia with a clientele that included elected officials, military officers and government contractors with security clearances, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.
“Alleged prospective sex buyers in this scheme first had to respond to a survey and provide information online, including their driver’s license photos, their employer information, credit card information, and they often paid a monthly fee to be part of this.”
https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/08/politics/high-end-brothel-network-arrests/index.html
Which elected officials?? Which officers?? Inquiring minds want to know.
That was an old fashioned blackmail setup.
And a pretty efffing obvious one at that.
Section 702 allows the Feds to warrantlessly spy on communications belonging to foreigners outside of the United States in the name of preventing crime and terrorists attacks.
However it also scoops up phone calls, texts, and emails of US persons — if the foreigner is communicating with or about these US persons — and all of this info is stored in massive databases the FBI, CIA and NSA can search without a warrant.
Indeed but if an American is up to no good with said foreign person. 
Enter the gray zone.
Someone else has a go at reforming US Section 702 spying powers – and nope, no warrant requirement
Some US lawmakers have tabled alternative legislation to reauthorize the Feds’ favorite snooping tool, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, before it expires at the end of the year.
But unlike a rival surveillance reform proposal unveiled earlier this month, the legislation introduced on Tuesday by US Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) and friends doesn’t require US law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant before scouring US folks’ electronic communications.
[…]
Speaking of Indian assassination plots…
It was described as a New York hit job with international implications: an audacious assassination plot against a Sikh separatist.
The target was a lawyer at a New York-based group called Sikhs for Justice — an American citizen and an outspoken proponent of independence for the northern Indian state of Punjab. And the man who would attempt to arrange his murder, prosecutors said, was an Indian national who had been hired by an official inside the Indian government.
But the plot failed: The man planning the assassination hired a hit man who was, in fact, working for the American government.
Crazy.
No new top boss at NSA until it answers questions about buying up location, browsing data
Is the NSA buying up Americans’ location and browsing data? Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) is tired of asking and has now moved to block the confirmation of a new NSA director until he gets answers.
[…]
Former US ambassador arrested in Florida, accused of serving as an agent of Cuba, AP source says
THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT instructed its consulates in North America to launch a “sophisticated crackdown scheme” against Sikh diaspora organizations in Western countries, according to a secret memorandum issued in April 2023 by India’s Ministry of External Affairs. The memo, which was obtained by The Intercept, lists several Sikh dissidents under investigation by India’s intelligence agencies, including the Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
“Concrete measures shall be adopted to hold the suspects accountable,” the memo says. Nijjar was murdered in Vancouver in June, two months after being named as a target in the document, a killing the Canadian government said was ordered by Indian intelligence.
Many US businesses may be required to assist in government-directed surveillance – depending upon which of two reform bills before Congress is approved.
Under rules being considered, any telecom service provider or business with custodial access to telecom equipment – a hotel IT technician, an employee at a cafe with Wi-Fi, or a contractor responsible for installing home broadband router – could be compelled to enable electronic surveillance. And this would apply not only to those involved with data transit and data storage.
[…]
