Our last one is full, here's a new open thread all topics welcome.

The New York Times is pumping Joe Biden again . Why do I say that? Because as I was reading this article today, "Joe Biden Gets Serious", I felt like I had read it before. I just searched for it. Here's last week's Joe Biden Wades Further Into 2016 Bid.. The articles share a co-author. Both talk about meetings with private donors, the revving up of a draft Biden campaign, his late son's hope he'd run, supportive quotes from long time cronies, and suggestions that Hillary's campaign is in trouble. [More...]

In December, 2014, the U.S. announced that airstrikes had killed senior ISIS member Hajii Mutazz, aka Fadel Ahmed Abdullah al-Hiyali aka Abu Muslim al Turkmani. He was described by the U.S. as the "right hand man" of leader al Baghdadi.

Today the U.S. announced he was killed in an airstrike this week on August 18.

Via Frontline: [More....]

One of the problems the Media and the GOP have with their attacks on the Clintons, and particularly now, Hillary clinton, is that the pileons generally end up getting Dems to rally around her.

This is just 1 data point, but Gallup reports:

Democrats' overall opinions of the major Democratic contenders for president have changed little despite six eventful weeks of campaigning. Hillary Clinton remains the best liked among her party faithful. She enjoys a net favorable score of +60, which is essentially where she stood in July. Bernie Sanders is still the next best-liked candidate in the field, with his net favorable stable at +29.

Clinton is plus 4 net favorable with Dems in the last months. Something to keep an eye on.

Since at least 2003, they have emphasized that information shared by a foreign government with an expectation or agreement of confidentiality is the only kind that is "presumed" classified. The State Department's own regulations, as laid out in the Foreign Affairs Manual, have been unequivocal since at least 1999: all department employees "must ... safeguard foreign government and NATO RESTRICTED information as U.S. Government Confidential" or higher[.] [My emphasis.

I think Reuters is misunderstanding the applicable rules. Reuters appears to be referring to 12 FAM 534.1(d):

The story that has captured the imagination of the Nation's Media - EGhazi! - has a new twist -- David Shuster of al Jazeera is reporting that:

FBI treating Clinton emails as a potential criminal investigation. @DavidShuster reports. https://t.co/RWaqXrcnrW

— Al Jazeera America (@ajam) August 20, 2015

This development could carry serious implications for William Roebuck, the career State Department official who was the Director of the Office of Maghreb Affairs at State and is now US Ambassador to Bahrain.

More on the flip.

My good news is I found a new house. The flip side is I have to move in about 3 weeks. There's a lot to do between now and then.

Our last open thread is full, here's a new one, all topics welcome.

Fox News is reporting that:

An email from a top Clinton adviser containing classified military intelligence information, and one from a top aide containing classified information about the Benghazi terror attack, were the documents that kick-started the FBI investigation into the mishandling of classified information, Fox News has learned.

I went on State's FOIA site and found the e-mails. Here are links: November 18,2012 email from Jake Sullivan to Hillary Clinton forwarding e-mail chain and March 27, 2011 Huma Abedin e-mail to Hillary Clinton forwarding e-mail chain (the links require your to search the list. No direct link to documents).

In case anyone is wondering why I haven't been blogging the past week, here's the answer: I just found out I have to move again. My two year lease is up Oct. 7 and the owners notified me last week they want to sell rather than renew my lease.

It shouldn't be as bad as last time since I have 6 weeks instead of 3 to find a new home, and I have less to move since I put so much in storage last time, but it's still very stressful. [More...]

I'll be back soon, hopefully by tomorrow. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

On December 29, 2009, President Obama issued Executive Order 13526. In the preamble, this EO is described as:

Our democratic principles require that the American people be informed of the activities of their Government. Also, our Nation's progress depends on the free flow of information both within the Government and to the American people. Nevertheless, throughout our history, the national defense has required that certain information be maintained in confidence in order to protect our citizens, our democratic institutions, our homeland security, and our interactions with foreign nations. Protecting information critical to our Nation's security and demonstrating our commitment to open Government through accurate and accountable application of classification standards and routine, secure, and effective declassification are equally important priorities.

Is the Intelligence Community (IC) acting consistently with the principles of this Executive Order? We have many reasons to doubt it. The Hillary Clinton e-mail brouhaha is a great illustration of this. Richard Lempert, a fellow at Brookings and a former DHS official, writes:

In an AP Story sourced by Intelligence Community officials, the extreme weakness of the claims against Hillary Clinton are well explained. AP writes:

The two emails on Hillary Rodham Clinton's private server that an auditor deemed "top secret" include a discussion of a news article detailing a U.S. drone operation and a separate conversation that could point back to highly classified material in an improper manner or merely reflect information collected independently, U.S. officials who have reviewed the correspondence told The Associated Press. [My emphasis]

The idea that an email discussing a news article could be deemed "Top Secret" is ludicrous of course. But the IC is nothing if not ludicrous when it comes to classification issues. The story continues: