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A Maryland Democrat has invited President Trump to tour the National Security Agency to become better acquainted with its mission and workers, after Trump questioned the intelligence community's loyalty to the American people amid a series of leaks.

In a letter to Trump, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger wrote Thursday he thinks it's "critical" for the president to witness the work of the "dedicated men and women do every day to protect our soldiers on the battlefield, as well as everyday Americans" who work at NSA headquarters in Fort Meade, Md., which is in Ruppersberger's district.

Responding to intelligence agency leaks that led to the resignation of National Security Advisor Michael Flynn on Monday, Trump criticized the integrity of the Federal Bureau of Intelligence and the NSA, calling them "un-American" and suggesting that "they act just like Russia."

"I am confident this will give you a new understanding and appreciation of the essential services provided by our intelligence workers," Ruppersberger wrote. "As commander in chief, it is imperative you avail yourself the opportunity to experience the mission of the NSA up close and personally."

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The president is also reportedly looking to hire billionaire investor Stephen Feinberg, a co-founder of Cerberus Capital Management, to lead an investigation into the leaks, according to a report.

Ruppersberger said he found these reports "alarming."

"Today's report that you plan to assign a friend with almost no national security experience to review our intelligence agencies is simply the colloquial straw that broke the camel's back," Ruppersberger wrote. "If you follow through with this effort, I fear it will greatly damage our intelligence community's required independence and stifle the exchange of sensitive information that may conflict with your policy positions."

Top Story

Trump's aggressive stance toward the media and freewheeling campaign style is back.

02/16/17 1:18 PM

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Democrat invites Trump to tour NSA after he called it 'un-American' - Washington Examiner

A former National Security Agency contractor accused of stealing a huge cache of classified documents pleaded not guilty Tuesday to spying charges in federal court in Baltimore.

Harold T. Martin III was indicted last week by a federal grand jury, accused of violating the Espionage Act by carrying out what officials say is the largest theft of classified information in U.S. history.

Martin, 52, was arrested in August at his home in Anne Arundel County, Md., where law enforcement officials recovered dozens of computers, digital storage devices and thousands of hard-copy documents that filled six bankers boxes. Prosecutors say Martin hid classified and top-secret information in the trunk of his car, his home office and an unlocked outdoor shed.

In a brief court appearance Tuesday, Martin told Magistrate Judge A. David Copperthite that he understood the significance of the indictment charging him with taking and retaining a huge amount of classified material. The charges carry a maximum prison sentence of 10years for each of 20 criminal counts.

If the case goes to trial, prosecutors said they expect it would last three to four weeks.

Martin, who has been held in a detention facility since his arrest and was dressed Tuesday in a black-and-white striped uniform, is not accused of trying to disseminate or publish the information he is accused of stealing.

Hes not Edward Snowden, Martins attorney James Wyda said during an earlier detention hearing, referring to the former intelligence contractor who gave classified material on U.S. surveillance programs to the media.

Hes not someone who, due to political ideas or philosophical ideas or moral principles, thinks he knows better than everybody else and, hence, is compelled to release government secrets, Wyda said.

Martins attorneys have previously said he took documents home not to harm the United States but to get better at his job. Martin has a compulsive hoarding habit, his attorneys said, and was taking medication for attention-deficit disorder that was a trigger for hoarding.

Martin first received security clearance on active duty in the Navy. He went on to work for seven private companies at various agencies within the intelligence community, including the CIA, the U.S. Cyber Command and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

He was a trusted insider, prosecutors said, working at the NSA from 2012 to 2015, where he was an employee of the intelligence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. Martin was for some time in the NSAs elite hacker unit, Tailored Access Operations, which makes and deploys software used to penetrate foreign targets computer networks for foreign espionage purposes.

At the time of his arrest, Martin was enrolled in a doctorate program in information security management and doing research for his dissertation. He has an extensive background in computer security, including in the areas of encryption and secure communications.

Many of the documents Martin is accused of stealing were marked top-secret and contained highly classified information, including the names of intelligence officers who operate undercover outside the United States, according to the 12-page indictment. Among other secret documents, authorities found an NSA anti-terrorism document related to extremely sensitive U.S. planning and operations regarding global terrorists, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors described the theft in court filings as breathtaking in its longevity and scale.

Harold Martin flagrantly abused the trust placed in him by the government by stealing documents containing highly classified information, Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said in a statement after the indictment was returned last week.

Ellen Nakashima contributed to this report.

Read more:
Ex-NSA contractor pleads not guilty to spying charges in federal court - Washington Post

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly (L), National Security Advisor General Mike Flynn (C), and Keith Alexander wait for a meeting on cyber security in the Roosevelt Room of the White House January 31, 2017 in Washington, D.C.Photograph by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKIAFP/Getty Images

President Trump's early tenure has been marked by reports of slipshod cybersecurity practices, and dysfunction among the country's intelligence agencies. But behind the scenes, Trump has shown he is attuned to hacking threats, and prepared to defend the U.S. in cyber-space, according to the former head of the National Security Agency.

Speaking at a breakfast in San Francisco on Tuesday morning, retired General Keith Alexander described a recent meeting at which the President discussed cybersecurity issues with members of his inner circle. According to Alexander, Trump's behavior shifted significantly once members of the media left the event.

The Presidents demeanor changed to what you would expect of a corporate CEO," said Alexander. "The part that struck me was he listened. He took what they said, restated it, went on to next thing and allowed everyone to talk."

The gathering reportedly included Trump, adviser Jared Kushner, Defense Secretary James Mattis, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, and others.

Alexander also said Trump's comportment in the meeting was "the president our nation needs to see," and expressed confidence Trump would be able to develop a comprehensive strategy to combat cyber threats.

The remarks come at a time of ongoing tumult among White House security staffmost notably the sudden resignation of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn on Mondayand are at odds with earlier news reports that portrayed Trump as sometimes cavalier about what he famously called "the cyber" in a presidential debate last fall.

On the question of Flynn's resignation, Alexander said he was not aware of what occurred behind the scenes, only stating he was sure the White House had good reasons to back the departure.

Alexander's assessment of Trump and cybersecurity is significant in part because as the former head of the country's top spy agency, he presided over a controversial set of intelligence gathering techniques that were exposed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden in 2013.

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In addressing the breakfast, hosted by the State of Maryland during the RSA security conference, Alexander also spoke about the challenge of balancing privacy and security, and the wisdom of "hacking back" against other countries.

The pervasive hacking conducted by countries like North Korea and China is a source of ongoing frustration for companies, and has led some to suggest the private sector should retaliate with cyber-attacks of their own.

Alexander, however, believes such retaliation is possible but ill-advised. Using Sony ( sne ) as an example, he explained could easily avenge North Korea's devastating attack of 2014 by "hacking back," perhaps with the discreet aid of U.S. defense contractors.

"Youd kick North Korea's buttwipe out their seven computers and we would be done with it," he said about a hypothetical Sony counter-strike. But heres the problem. North Korea assumes its a government attack and they escalate. They throw artillery into Seoul and we've started a land war on the Korean peninsula, even if it started with a company trying to protect themselves.

Instead of companies taking cyber retaliation into their own hands, Alexander instead argues it's the government's job to address these issues as part of its larger mandate to defend the United States. He said this should include assistance to build "cyber domes" across key industrial sectors, and "network speed" threat coordination between government and the private sector.

Cyber has become an element of national power," he said, alongside traditional diplomatic, military, and economic initiatives.

One of the most difficult cybersecurity tasks for the Trump administration will be how to address a new generation of device and communication tools that are all but impossible to spy on. Fueled in part by Edward Snowden's revelations, Apple ( aapl ) and other companies began introducing encryption features that can't be broken by law enforcement or even accessed by the companies themselves.

Last spring, encryption was at the heart of a hugely publicized court fight between Apple and the FBI, which sought access to a locked iPhone owned by a terrorist responsible for the San Bernardino massacre. (The stand-off ended abruptly after the FBI succeeded in unlocking the iPhone on its own account, but the issue is likely to return again soon in light of newer versions of the iPhone with even stronger security measures).

According to Alexander, the trouble with ubiquitous encryption is that terrorists can plan in perfect secrecy. Alexander cited a 2009 plot to blow up the New York City subway that was foiled after intelligence agencies intercepted an emailsomething that would not have been possible if the plotters had used today's encryption tools, he noted.

Any solution that gives spy services a window into encrypted communication is problematic, however, because it can involve weakening the overall security of a device or messaging service. Such an outcomeespecially in the form of a "back door" that lets law enforcement get around encryptionis fiercely opposed by the tech community, which points out any such back door will also be exploited by criminals or repressive governments.

Alexander acknowledged this tension, but did not offer a specific solution.

"Im not for back doors but I dont buy the fact we cant [have both privacy and security]," Alexander said. "We have to drive two groups together and force them to work on this. I dont think we should accept fact people die because were intractable."

More here:
Donald Trump on Top of Cyber Threats, Former NSA Head ... - Fortune - Fortune

Trump speaks by phone with Putin in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

In an explosive report by the New York Times, it was revealed that that members of Donald Trumps 2016 presidential campaign were repeatedly in contact with Russian intelligence officials in the year preceding the election.

According to U.S. intelligence sources, communications between Trump operatives and the Russians were discovered when they looking into the hacking on the Democratic National Committee. The intelligence agencies sought to find out whether the Trump campaign working with the Russians in regard to the hacking.

Intelligence officials said the intercepted communications not only included Trump campaign officials, but also other associates of the now newly-elected president. According to the the report, the Russians contacted included members of the Russian government outside of the intelligence services.

The bombshell report comes as the Trump administration is still reeling over the resignation of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn over contacts with the Russians which he then lied about.

You can read the whole report here.

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Bombshell report reveals NSA intercepted communications between Trump campaign and Russian agents - Raw Story

This was the scene at Mar-a-Lago as news came in that North Korea had conducted a missile test. The public is all around. Classified documents are lying on the table. People are on the phone where anyone can overhear them. There is no operational security at all. This picture was taken by some random guest from a few feet away. Trump himself just looks bored by the whole thing. Facebook

John Schindler got a lot of attention over the weekend for his Observer article, "The Spy Revolt Against Trump Begins." Here's the bit that raised the most eyebrows:

A new report by CNN indicates that important parts of the infamous spy dossier that professed to shed light on President Trumps shady Moscow ties have been corroborated by communications intercepts....SIGINT confirms that some of the non-salacious parts of what Steele reported, in particular how senior Russian officials conspired to assist Trump in last years election, are substantially based in fact.

....Our spies have had enough of these shady Russian connectionsand they are starting to push back....In light of this, and out of worries about the White Houses ability to keep secrets, some of our spy agencies have begun withholding intelligence from the Oval Office. Why risk your most sensitive information if the president may ignore it anyway? A senior National Security Agency official explained that NSA was systematically holding back some of the good stuff from the White House, in an unprecedented move.

....Whats going on was explained lucidly by a senior Pentagon intelligence official, who stated that since January 20, weve assumed that the Kremlin has ears inside the SITROOM, meaning the White House Situation Room, the 5,500 square-foot conference room in the West Wing where the president and his top staffers get intelligence briefings. Theres not much the Russians dont know at this point, the official added in wry frustration.

"Inside" reporting about the intelligence community is notoriously unreliable, so take this with a grain of salt. Maybe it's true, maybe it's not. But just the fact that stuff like this is getting a respectful public hearing is damning all by itself. For any other recent president, a report like this would be dismissed as nonsense without a second thought. But for Trump, it seems plausible enough to take seriously. Stay tuned.

Continue reading here:
NSA May Be Withholding Intel from President Trump - Mother Jones