In Midst Of Terror Attack, US Intel Unit Was Blocked From Tracking The Terrorists

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> Date: September 29, 2017 at 1:22:08 AM EDT
> To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] In Midst Of Terror Attack, US Intel Unit Was Blocked From Tracking The Terrorists
> Reply-To: dewayne-net () warpspeed com
>
> In Midst Of Terror Attack, US Intel Unit Was Blocked From Tracking The Terrorists
> When knife-wielding terrorists attacked civilians on London Bridge, a key US intelligence unit raced to help — but 
> found they were shut out of critical classified computer networks. The problem has hampered several antiterrorist 
> efforts and prevented the unit from fully complying with the Senate investigation into Donald Trump and Russia.
> By Jason Leopold and Jessica Garrison
> Sep 27 2017
> <https://www.buzzfeed.com/jasonleopold/us-intelligence-unit-was-blocked-from-tracking-terrorists>
>
> As images of bloody civilians fleeing London Bridge filled newsfeeds on June 3, US intelligence and law enforcement 
> officials raced to help investigate an unfolding terrorist assault on America’s closest ally.
>
> But one group of officers uniquely situated to help was shut out: officials in the Treasury Department bureau that 
> tackles financial crimes and terrorist financing. In the first frantic moments of an attack, the bureau’s databases 
> of banking records can yield invaluable clues about who the killers are, who else is in their cells, and whether more 
> attacks are imminent.
>
> But not on June 3. When the officials got to their secure operations center in Northern Virginia that Saturday night, 
> they discovered that everyone on duty had been blocked from the classified networks their response depended upon. 
> They couldn't open links emailed by the FBI about the suspected terrorists they were supposed to be chasing. They 
> couldn't begin following the threads connecting those suspects to the people who had been funding and supporting them.
>
> The lack of access for personnel within the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network — never before reported — cost 
> antiterrorism forces on both sides of the Atlantic crucial time in identifying and pursuing the people and networks 
> around the attackers, according to sources and documents reviewed by BuzzFeed News.
>
> Sources said the lack of access has also hindered the congressional inquiry into President Donald Trump and Russia. 
> The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network — FinCEN for short — has not turned over all the records that the Senate 
> Intelligence and Finance committees requested as part of their probes into the 2016 election. While the agency did 
> send over about 2,000 pages of banking and other financial information to the Intelligence Committee in March, 
> officials said they are still waiting for additional information on transactions between specific people. Sources 
> declined to name those people or describe the transactions.
>
> Accusing the Treasury Department of making it impossible for Congress to “follow the money,” Democratic Sen. Ron 
> Wyden, of Oregon, announced last week that he would would block the confirmation vote on Trump’s nominee to be 
> Treasury’s assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis, Isabel Patelunas, until the remaining documents are 
> produced.
>
> The Treasury Department did not respond to specific questions from BuzzFeed News about FinCEN’s response to terrorist 
> attacks or congressional requests, but issued a statement saying in part that its “employees obtain and maintain 
> access to the tools needed to support our partners in law enforcement, the intelligence community and foreign 
> counterparts.”
>
> FinCEN’s skill at following the money has proven valuable in past terrorist attacks. After the 2013 bombing of the 
> Boston Marathon, one FBI official told BuzzFeed News, the “names searches FinCEN did were far more effective and 
> thorough than what we had been doing when it came to identifying the attackers” and mapping the terrorist network 
> tied to them.
>
> [snip]
>
> Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: http://dewaynenet.wordpress.com/feed/
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/wa8dzp



-------------------------------------------
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/18849915-ae8fa580
Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=18849915&id_secret=18849915-aa268125
Unsubscribe Now: 
https://www.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?member_id=18849915&id_secret=18849915-32545cb4&post_id=20170929042251:6072B45A-A4EF-11E7-8096-F36E81657A02
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com