Petraeus Scandal Proves FBI Poking around Private Emails
The case of U.S. General David Petraeus proves that the FBI has the authority and technological capacity to read private emails in accounts hosted by world-renowned Internet providers, which are supposed to be intruder-proof.
The recent resignation of the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is proof of the possibilities granted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to intervene services such as Yahoo, Google and others, the Huffington Post reported.
If the government has plausible suspicions and an investigation into an alleged crime is under way, experts authorized by Washington can access and manipulate private emails, said Stewart Baker, a former official with the Homeland Security Department.
Under the Electronic Communications Act, ratified in Congress in 1986 and updated a couple of times over the past decade, federal authorities such as the FBI and other state agencies only need authorization from a prosecutor to monitor communications that are up to two years old.
Even if the user has a fictitious name, like in Petraeus’ case, the FBI experts have variants to monitor the line to the true user and compare senders and digital traces until they rebuild the chain of interaction, Baker explained.
Petraeus, a retired four-star general, resigned on November 8 after confessing before President Barack Obama that he had an extramarital affair with author Paula Broadwell, a reserve Army officer and his personal biographer.
The FBI opened the investigation in early 2012, after Jill Kelley, a civilian and a friend of the Petraeus family, reported that she had received threatening emails, and the names of the CIA director and his lover Broadwell came up during the course of the investigation.
From April 2008 to 2010, Petraeus directed the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which coordinates U.S. military Operations in the Middle East.
Obama Plans Strong Public Campaign on Tax Increase
U.S. President Barack Obama plans this week to move ahead with a campaign to build public support for his initiative to increase taxes on the richest as a means to counteract the deficit.
Obama will meet with union leaders this morning and representatives of the private business sector on Wednesday, with the goal of winning supporters to his proposal to increase taxes from 35 to 39.6 percent.
The Democratic president’s proposal is aimed at those citizens with incomes over $250,000 per year, a portion of those who benefited from laws passed during the George W. Bush administration.
According to estimates by the White House the end of the Bush-era of tax breaks could provide $440 billion dollars in additional government revenues over the next 10 years.
With the same objective, Obama met last Friday with leaders of both parties in the national Congress, but Republicans at first were reluctant to support an increase in taxes for the wealthy in the country.
Two days after winning the last Tuesday’s elections, the head of the White House addressed the issue and recalled the sharp tax increases coming up, saying “the Congress should be open to new ideas or commitments.”
“I am committed to solving our fiscal challenge, but I refuse to accept a proposal that is not balanced,” emphasized Obama, who will be in the Oval Office for another four years but with a majority against him in the House of Representatives.
According to the president, another plan that calls for a cut in taxes for the middle class would give millions of families and 97 percent of midsize companies the idea that the domestic industry is moving toward a rapid expansion.
French President to Assess First Six Months in Office
French President François Hollande will give a press conference on Tuesday to assess his work during his first six months in office and try to improve his deteriorated image due to recent adjustment programs.
Several polls published here say the president’s popularity is 41 percent, one of the lowest rates reported by a government in its initial stage.
Among the factors leading to Hollande’s drop in popularity is the worsening of French economy, stagnated for four consecutive trimesters and with little prospects to improve during the rest of the year.
Last week, the Bank of France warned that in the October-December period, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) might decrease 0.1 percent, meaning that the country would go into recession.
At the same time, unemployment has remained high over the past six months, affecting over 3.57 million workers, while several companies have announced mass layoffs. In addition to this situation, which was mostly inherited from the previous administration, Hollande is blamed for a series of controversial measures not included in his election campaign, said François Miquet-Marty, president of the poll firm Viavoice.
They are the ratification of the European austerity pact, which he had promised to renegotiate during his election campaign, but whose only additional element was a 120-billion-euro fund to stimulate economic growth in the region, said the expert.
According to analysts, in his first press conference, Hollande will have to explain the reasons why he made these decisions and to calm people down about the country’s course in a short and medium term.
French President François Hollande will give a press conference on Tuesday to assess his work during his first six months in office and try to improve his deteriorated image due to recent adjustment programs.
Several polls published here say the president’s popularity is 41 percent, one of the lowest rates reported by a government in its initial stage.
Among the factors leading to Hollande’s drop in popularity is the worsening of French economy, stagnated for four consecutive trimesters and with little prospects to improve during the rest of the year.
Last week, the Bank of France warned that in the October-December period, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) might decrease 0.1 percent, meaning that the country would go into recession.
At the same time, unemployment has remained high over the past six months, affecting over 3.57 million workers, while several companies have announced mass layoffs. In addition to this situation, which was mostly inherited from the previous administration, Hollande is blamed for a series of controversial measures not included in his election campaign, said François Miquet-Marty, president of the poll firm Viavoice.
They are the ratification of the European austerity pact, which he had promised to renegotiate during his election campaign, but whose only additional element was a 120-billion-euro fund to stimulate economic growth in the region, said the expert.
According to analysts, in his first press conference, Hollande will have to explain the reasons why he made these decisions and to calm people down about the country’s course in a short and medium term.