,
11 tweets,
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THREAD:
1/ It's interesting that Alex Joel, the @ODNIgov Chief of the Office of Civil Liberties, Privacy, and Transparency since it's inception in 2005, just left his office in August to be replaced by Ben Huebner from the @CIA. #WhistleblowerComplaint dni.gov/index.php/news…
1/ It's interesting that Alex Joel, the @ODNIgov Chief of the Office of Civil Liberties, Privacy, and Transparency since it's inception in 2005, just left his office in August to be replaced by Ben Huebner from the @CIA. #WhistleblowerComplaint dni.gov/index.php/news…
2/ James Clapper designated Joel as the ODNI Transparency Officer and Chair of the Intelligence Transparency Council. dni.gov/files/document…
3/ In his role Joel was charged with guiding "how the IC should make information publicly available while protecting classified information, when disclosure would harm national security". 🤔
dni.gov/files/CLPT/doc…
dni.gov/files/CLPT/doc…
dni.gov/files/CLPT/doc…
dni.gov/files/CLPT/doc…
4/ Over at @lawfareblog, ex-ODNI General Counsel Robert Litt seemed to be one of the first to report Joel's departure and commented that Huebner "has large and important shoes to fill". This was mid-July when rumors of Coats's departure were circulating. lawfareblog.com/praise-alex-jo…
5/ Joel has even contributed to Lawfare and has written an op-ed in @politico. FISA and surveiling Americans seems to be a topic he covers regularly, which makes sense given his job description. lawfareblog.com/beyond-snowden…
politico.com/magazine/story…
politico.com/magazine/story…
6/ @emptywheel weighs in on Joel in "Alexander Joel: Dragnet With a Human Face". Apparently, he introduced himself in a @McClatchyDC piece back in 2013. emptywheel.net/2013/08/14/ale…
7/ @washingtonpost reported that two former U.S. officials were familiar with the #Whistleblower complaint. Could be a coincidence, but Joel is now a scholar-in-residence at @AmericanU and his lawyers are ex-IC officials. washingtonpost.com/national-secur…
8/ I have no idea if Alex Joel is the whistleblower, but I find it interesting that the ODNI's second Transparency Officer since it's inception replaced him 9 days after the complaint. Joel had the role for 14 years and now that declassifications are around the corner, he leaves.
P.S. Lawfare Susan discussing civil liberties this morning. Joel was the ODNI Chief Civil Liberties Protection Officer.
P.P.S. It's somewhat unnerving that Joel's replacement, Huebner, and IG Michael Atkinson were both Counsel to AAG John Carlin, and he and Acting AAG Mary McCord have given Atkinson glowing reviews. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ edition.cnn.com/2019/09/23/pol…
P.P.P.S. Given the ICIG found there was indicia of #Whistleblower political bias in favor of a rival political candidate, I scanned the FEC.gov database for Joel's and Huebner's campaign contributions. Joel donated to Bradley, McCain and Kerry. Huebner to Leahy.
