The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "NSA" ...
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The Shadow Factory
"Following the [9/11] attacks, the NSA began its illegal program for warrantless eavesdropping. In my book, for the first time, I lay out in detail how that program began, how it was run, and how Americans were targeted."
Tags: NSA; privacy; 9/11; eavesdropping; government; big brother; security; wiretap;
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The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America
This book is Bamford's latest expose' of the National Security Agency. Among his findings, Bamford reveals that the agency had been targeting the Yemeni home that served as Osama bin Laden's operations center prior to 9/11 but had never told the FBI that the al-Qaida terrorists were there. Bamford's book demonstrates an unparalleled ability to penetrate the most secretive of institutions.
Tags: National Security Agency; NSA; al-Qaida; al-Qaeda; national security; 9/11; September 11; Pentagon; CIA; Central Intelligence Agency; secrecy; FBI; Federal Bureau of Investigation
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The Lavender Scare
After leaving the NSA in 1960 to work in Russia, codebreakers Bill Martin and Bernie Mitchell were the men behind what is called the worst internal scnadal in NSA history. The Pentagon labels the men as being homosexuals who betrayed their country, yet NSA files with over 450 coworkers and friends show that neither man is in fact gay.
Tags: hacker; Soviet Union; Cold War; Lesbian; National Security Administration
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Inside the Secret World of CIA and the Intelligence Community
A nine-month series that examines the actions and work of the CIA and other American intelligence agencies. From NSA monitoring domestic Internet traffic, to interrogation techniques, the series "provided the public with a rare inside look at how the Bush administration is conducting its war on terrorism."
Tags: terrorism; intelligence; CIA; NSA; FBI; Department of Justice; counterterrorism; Iraq; waterboarding; AlQaeda
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Whistle Blower Outs NSA Spy Room
In San Francisco, a "secret Internet switching room packed with surveillance gear and wired to AT&T's backbone network" was interconnected to other major Internet providers. The documents detailing this setup had been sealed due to a class-action lawsuit against AT&T, in which a civil liberties group "charged that the company had helped the government eavesdrop on Americans' domestic and international Internet traffic without a warrant."
Tags: Internet; national security; government eavesdropping; Web surveillance; AT&T; NSA
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System Error
The Sun used a FOIA request to obtain a declassified version of a 2003 NSA report on Trailblazer, the program designed to "fix the holes" in NSA's information filter. In the report the agency's inspector general found "'inadequate management and oversight' of private contractors and overpayment for the work done." A govenment official told The Sun, "The government has been standing by while the agency has been gradually 'going deaf' as unimportant communications drown out key pieces of information."
Tags: National Security Agency; NSA; Lt. General Keith B. Alexander; Trailblazer; 9/11; post-9/11 investigations; Science Applications International Corporation; SAIC; Freedom of Information Act; FOIA; Fort Meade; Threat Operations Center; Jared Adams; General Michael V. Hayden; FBI's Virtual Case File program; TASC
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The No-Fly List
CBS News reported that the No-Fly List, compiled after 9/11 to "prevent an Islamic terrorist who's associated with al-Queda from getting on a plane" is "incomplete, inaccurate, outdated, and a source of aggravation to thousands of innocent Americans." The version available to airport screeners is "sanitized of the most sensitive information", because "intelligence agencies that supply the names don't want them circulated to airport employees in foreign countries for fear that they could end up in the hands of terrorists." Before 9/11 the list had 16 names on it; after 9/11, the list grew to include 44 thousand names, not including an additional 75 thousand names on the additional security screening list. Now there's another list: names of people who have shouldn't be on the first list. You have to apply to get on that list. The list airport screeners see has no birth dates or physical descriptions. For the past three years, the TSA has spent about 144 million dollars to develop a program called Secure Flight-- it hasn't been implemented yet.
Tags: Department of Homeland Security; anti-war activists; Iraq; No-Fly List; wiretaps; FBI; Excel; heads-of-state; Transportation Security Administration; TSA; data dump; National Security News Service; Joe Trento; NSA; Zaccarias Moussaoui; FBI Terrorist's Screening Center; Donna Bucella; Dawud Salahuddin; David Belfield; Kip Hawley; Cathy Berrick; General Accounting Office; Secure Flight
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The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of its Enemies Since 9/11
Suskind identifies the doctrine, formulated by Vice President Cheney,as one that "separates analysis from action and embraces suspicion as a threshold for the use of American power." Suskind says Cheney was "the primary architect of U.S. foreign policy" during the period the book profiles, from immediately following 9/11/2001 until 2004. Suskind says in his IRE contest questionnaire that he was able to reassure several sources that he was willing to go to jail for an indefinite period of time to avoid nasming sources; and gave an example of his unwillingness "to reveal sources within ther government to quash the disinformation from ther FBI. Suskind says "The incident is, tereby, instructive in regard to new rules of engagement: the government will release information to cloud an independent report if they are convinced the reporter will be unable, or unwilling to reveal his sources."
Tags: FBI; CIA; NSA; NSC; Iraq; Pentagon; bin Laden; Zawahiri; White House; war on terror; al Qaeda; disinformation; Weapons of Mass Destruction; WMD; Chemical weapons; human sources; humint; sigint; George Tenet; Condoleeza Rice; Zubaydah; DCI
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Secret Surveillance
This story uncovered the fact that President Bush had authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop without warrants on some domestic phone calls and email.
Tags: surveillance; national security; domestic surveillance; NSA warrantless wiretapping
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The Disconnected Cop
In a three-month investigation after the 9-11 attacks, Baseline examined the New York Police Department's information and communications capabilities, which were found to be outdated and, for many cops, inaccessible. Additionally, federal agencies were probed and the FBI, CIA and NSA systems were found to be in not much better shape.
Tags: communications; NYPD; 9-11; security; law enforcement; FBI; CIA; NSA; terrorism; information systems