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Here’s an Interesting Little Nugget From the FBI Records Release No One Is Talking About

by AlyssaU7785 Posted on October 20, 2016

Mother Jones

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The FBI released on Monday the fourth and last batch of interview summaries related to its investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private home email server during her time as secretary of state. The files to date have summarized Clinton’s July 4 weekend interview with agents, the technical details behind the server, and some complicated aspects of the relationship between the State Department and the FBI.

But they also included another interesting nugget.

In a summary from May 25, 2016, one of the US Secret Service agents assigned to protect former President Bill Clinton told FBI investigators that he was also “asked to do network assessments and troubleshoot IT issues at the Clinton Foundation” in addition to his full-time job of protecting the former president. His apparent “information technology (IT) skills” were tapped to assist “in a case related to the theft of information on the Clinton Foundation information systems.” The agent also told the FBI that after being contacted by longtime Clinton aide Justin Cooper, he helped another Clinton aide, Bryan Pagliano, research a security issue with the Clinton’s home email server.

The US Secret Service is tasked with protecting the president, former presidents, and a handful of other high-ranking US politicians, along with foreign dignitaries who visit the United States. The agency, among the nation’s oldest federal law enforcement organizations, also investigates threats against those it protects and investigates crimes related to financial fraud. It’s unclear whether the work the agent described would violate any department regulations. The Secret Service did not respond to questions about the matter. The Clinton campaign and the Clinton Foundation also did not respond to any questions.

Cooper and Pagliano have both been embroiled in the private email server controversy from the very beginning. They helped the Clintons set up the email server in the first place, according to Politico Magazine, and Pagliano maintained the home email server as someone who worked for Hillary Clinton both at the State Department and privately. In 2015 he invoked his Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination during one of the lawsuits related to records about the server, and was one of five people who were given limited immunity deals from the FBI as part of its investigation into the case.

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Here’s an Interesting Little Nugget From the FBI Records Release No One Is Talking About

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This FBI Tactic May Have Silenced GOP Convention Protesters in Cleveland

by KatrinScales Posted on July 25, 2016

Mother Jones

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There has already been more sustained protest activity in Philadelphia on the first day of the Democratic convention than there was during the entire Republican convention in Cleveland last week. Hundreds marched through blistering heat in downtown Philly on Sunday afternoon, and hundreds more marched Monday morning in favor of immigration reform and in support of Bernie Sanders. In Cleveland, despite predictions of greater unrest, no more than a couple of hundred protesters marched at any given time, and only 24 were arrested.

Perhaps the relative quiet in Cleveland was because of the overwhelming police presence there, or because estimates that “thousands” would protest at the Republican National Convention were wildly inflated—or both. But an additional factor could be that before and during the convention, the FBI intervened to make sure that any potential rabble-rousers remained quiet.

In late June, Mother Jones reported that FBI agents had stopped by the homes of several local Black Lives Matter and Occupy Cleveland activists to ask about their plans for the RNC. An FBI spokesperson told a Cleveland newspaper that the agents were conducting “community outreach as part of their security planning.” Activists in other cities who have been prominent in speaking out against police killings of African Americans told the Washington Post that they had been visited as well.

The FBI apparently continued to call upon activists throughout the week of the RNC. Last Wednesday, the Ohio chapter of the National Lawyers Guild released a statement claiming that eight special agents from the FBI, with officers from a metro Cleveland police department, “raided a home without consent or presenting a warrant.” The NLG said the raid appeared to be “part of a series of raids conducted” that morning.

When asked if the FBI activity had possibly quashed protests at the RNC, Jacqueline Green, co-coordinator of the NLG Ohio chapter and a Cleveland area civil rights and criminal defense attorney, replied, “I certainly think it had an effect.” She noted that some reports to the NLG included law enforcement telling people not to go downtown to protest. An FBI spokesperson told Mother Jones that the agency never told participants not to go downtown.

Video has surfaced on YouTube of one of the raids that apparently took place on July 20, showing what appear to be FBI agents, Elyria Police, and Homeland Security investigators entering a home and forcing the occupants outside in their underwear:

“We can get a search warrant for this place if you want to,” one of the law enforcement officers said (at 4:41 in the video). One of the men in the video was Rod Webber, a peace activist who had tried to calm tensions during the more heated debates in downtown Cleveland outside the RNC by offering everybody flowers.

Here’s another view from that same interaction captured on the front porch of the house:

Special Agent Vicki Anderson, a spokeswoman for the FBI’s Cleveland field office, told Mother Jones that the FBI and other agencies were following leads from the previous day that indicated that people in that house were throwing bottles of water and “possible bottles of urine” at law enforcement officials during mild protests in downtown Cleveland. She also said they had shoved and pushed law enforcement agents.

Law enforcement entered the house as part of a “protective sweep,” she said, to make sure everybody in the house was accounted for and that any weapons in the home were secured. At least one of the men in the home said on the video that he had a gun and a concealed-carry permit; Anderson says someone else also had a weapon but “no search was conducted and no arrests were made.”

She added that she didn’t know the number of visits the FBI made to potential protesters before and during the convention and that no group had been targeted, but “numerous individuals from various groups were visited” to “encourage a safe and secure RNC event.” She explained, “We were speaking to numerous groups with the same purpose in mind, maintaining an environment where all can assemble peacefully and exercise their right to free speech.”

Juss, a local activist who preferred not to share her full name, told Mother Jones that she thinks the FBI came to her house because of her past activism around prison reform and the Occupy Cleveland movement. She says she didn’t talk to the agent, who left a business card in her door, but expected the visit and said it seemed like an effort to intimidate activists.

“They visited people who aren’t doing anything” and didn’t pose a threat, she said. “They really don’t know what they’re doing. They’re just wildly stabbing into the dark.”

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This FBI Tactic May Have Silenced GOP Convention Protesters in Cleveland

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The New "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" Trailer Was Just Released—and It’s Pretty Great.

by CiaraVandegrift Posted on October 20, 2015

Mother Jones

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The New "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" Trailer Was Just Released—and It’s Pretty Great.

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9 Years on the No-Fly List Because an FBI Agent "Checked the Wrong Box"

by KathieNordstrom Posted on February 14, 2014

Mother Jones

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Over the years, I’ve written about a number of people who have been put on the no-fly list and prevented from entering the country for no apparent reason. Or, at any rate, for no reason the government cares to share with its victims. One of them is a Malaysian Ph.D. student named Rahinah Ibrahim, who was detained at San Francisco International Airport in 2005; eventually allowed to fly home; and then put on the no-fly list and never allowed back in the country. Why? As usual, no one is willing to say.

But this week we got a bit of a hint. Over at Glenn Greenwald’s new venture, The Intercept, Murtaza Hussain reports on the latest developments:

Last week, a federal judge publicly revealed the government’s explanation for Ibrahim’s long ordeal: an FBI agent had “checked the wrong box,” resulting in her falling under suspicion as a terrorist. Even when the government found and corrected the error years later, they still refused to allow Ibrahim to return to the country or learn on what grounds she had been banned in the first place.

Eric Holder, in his April declaration, restated his own new state secrets policy, that “the Department will not defend an invocation of the privilege in order to: (i) conceal violations of the law, inefficiency, or administrative error; (ii) prevent embarrassment to a person, organization, or agency of the United States Government”.

Then he did exactly what he had said he wouldn’t do.

Is there more to this? Maybe. The government, needless to say, isn’t talking. But it sure looks as if Ibrahim became a target for investigation; an FBI agent then filled out a form wrong; she was later cleared of any suspicion; but the mistake lived on forever and now no one wants to admit it. Do you feel safer now?

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9 Years on the No-Fly List Because an FBI Agent "Checked the Wrong Box"

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5 Reasons to Have a Plant at Your Desk

by Pauline80x Posted on March 18, 2013

We all know that adding a few well-positioned plants brings a welcoming feel to your work space. But aesthetics aren’t the only reason to incorporate a touch of green into your office setup. From improving indoor air quality to increasing productivity, here are five reasons to have a plant at your desk.

Photo: Shutterstock

1. Improve indoor air quality

In addition to bringing a friendly touch to your work space, growing live plants in the office can help clean the air and even improve your health, according to a NASA study.

In 1973, NASA scientists identified 107 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air inside the Skylab space station. Occupants often suffered from burning eyes and respiratory difficulties, later learned to be two of the most common symptoms of Sick Building Syndrome.

Meanwhile, B.C. “Bill” Wolverton, an environmental scientist working with the U.S. military, discovered that swamp plants actually eliminated Agent Orange from water samples. Expanding on this idea, Wolverton tested out the use of houseplants as a means of improving indoor air quality and discovered growing plants indoors helps eliminate VOCs from the air.

Research also suggests that plants play a psychological role in welfare, and that people actually recover from illness faster in the presence of plants, the study said. Check out these 15 houseplants that improve indoor air quality from Clean Air Gardening, and boost workplace wellness the eco way.

Bet You’ll Love: Make That Plant Even Cooler with One of These Rad Reused Planter Ideas

2. Reduce stress

In her dissertation at Surrey University in the U.K., master’s environmental psychology student Helen Russell set out to find scientific proof for notions already widely perceived – namely that plants in the office can reduce stress.

In the study, Russell asked participants to take a difficult test in a room filled with plants, and compared their skin conductivity, heart rate and blood pressure with people who completed the same test without plants.

Of the three types of measurements made, skin conductivity showed the greatest difference between the group exposed to office plants and those who took the test plant-free. Overall, Russell’s findings showed that plants eased stress for participants by at least this metric, and that participants recovered from stress more quickly in a plant-heavy environment.

Stay Green at Work: Reusable Replacements for the Office

3. Increase productivity

Tending for that potted plant not only helps you chill out during a hectic work day, but can also increase focus and productivity – allowing you to accomplish more with less stress.

In a study published in the “Journal of Environmental Horticulture,” researchers from Washington State University reported that live interior plants helped workers complete tasks with more focus and efficiency.

The study asked workers to complete a simple task on a computer in a room with plants and compared their performance with workers who completed the same task in the same room without plants.

Findings showed that productivity increased by 12 percent in the presence of plants. Additionally, people tested in the room with plants reported feeling about 10 percent more attentive after the task than those tested without plants.

More Ideas: 10 Ways to Stay Waste-Free at Work

4. Make rooms more comfortable

The recommended humidity range for human health and comfort is between 30 and 60 percent, but many offices fall short of these figures, especially in the summer and winter months. Low interior humidity can lead to increased fatigue, respiratory discomfort and an overall drop in workplace well-being, but the same Washington State University study that touted the benefits of plants for productivity suggests a touch of green can help fix this problem as well.

Findings show that when plants were added to a room, the relative humidity rose significantly, but not excessively. In one case, relative humidity without plants averaged 25 percent, and with plants it averaged 30 percent – bringing the room into the ideal comfort range.

Go the Extra Mile: How to Start an Office Recycling Program

5. Keep the environment on your mind

Keeping a plant at your desk has loads of health and wellness benefits. But don’t forget about the intangible ways a workplace plant can boost your green lifestyle.

In addition to improving your office environment, tending a house plant every day at work reminds you of how important it is to care for the Earth and why eco-friendly living means so much to you.

Each time you water your plant, let your mind wander to what you love about the environment, and channel these warm-fuzzy feelings to add a few eco-conscious habits to your workplace routine, such as reaching for reusable products over disposables, reducing paper use and conserving energy.

Want More Tips?: 50+ Ways to Green Your Workday

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5 Reasons to Have a Plant at Your Desk

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