Atlantic Monthly Contributors's Blog, page 880

Tim Geithner Finally Moving to Wall Street

After working with the Council on Foreign Relations and writing a book, former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner finally got a new job. He's chasing the big bucks at a private-equity firm, following a long line of former government officials cashing out on Wall Street. 

Friday evening, the Wall Street Journal reported Getihner will join private-equity firm Warburg Pincus in March. The former Obama administration official hasn't worked in the private sector in over 25 years, after spending time with International Monetary Fund and the New York Federal Reserve. In 2009, he was appointed Treasury Secretary, and was credited with slowing the effects of the economic downturn. Geithner left the Treasury in January and enjoyed a low-key life outside of the private and public sectors. Details of his new compensation weren't reported. 

"He brings a history of strong leadership, a deep understanding of economies and markets, and a truly global perspective," co-chief executive Chip Kaye said a statement, per Bloomberg. "These attributes will be of tremendous value to our firm in this increasingly interconnected world." Post-government positions are in-name-only, which is where Geithner's new job will differ from the norm, according to the Journal: 

At Warburg, he will serve as president and managing director, not the kind of figurehead or advisory positions that public-sector figures often land after government stints. Mr. Geithner, 52 years old, is expected to work on mapping the firm's strategy and management, investor relations and on matters related to the firm's investments.

But others aren't so sure Geithner will be anything more than a big name and pretty face on the private-equity firm's masthead. "While Mr. Geithner has been given the lofty title of president, several private equity executives questioned whether he would be much more than a prominent name who would help Warburg Pincus open doors on the fund-raising side, especially with foreign investors like sovereign wealth funds," reports The New York Times' Dealbook. 

Geithner is not the first former Treasury Secretary to take lucrative jobs on Wall Street after their time in government came to a close. Robert Rubin, who served under Clinton, accepted a job with Citigroup. John Snow, a Bush administration graduate, took a position with Cerebrus, another private-equity firm. 

       

Jay-Z Will Lead a Racial Profiling Review at Barneys

Facing heat after two customers accused Barneys of racial profiling ahead of his holiday collection's launch, Jay-Z asked the public to wait while he works on a solution. Late Friday, Hov announced the deal brokered with the upscale retailer that allows his collection to go forward. The new agreement with Barneys is undisputedly another victory for the Marcy-to-Madison Square rapper and, most importantly, his Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation.

Through a statement released on his Life+Times website, Jay-Z announced Barneys will now donate 100 percent of the proceeds from A New York Holiday, a Christmas collection of luxury items, will now go to the Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation. Perviously only 25 percent of the proceeds were to be donated to Hov's charity, which provides scholarships to underprivileged youth. Jay-Z also announced ten percent of all sales made through Barneys.com and Barneys New York on November 20, the day his new collection drops, will be donated to his charity. 

The deal was allowed to move forward on one condition: that Jay-Z take a "leadership role and seat on a council specifically convened to deal with the issue of racial profiling," according to Jay-Z's statement. Charges of profiling skyrocketed after a change in the store's policy, according to a New York Times report, after the retailer hired a new security team to fight a recent rash of thefts. The new council will reconsider and revise Barneys' current security policies. "The easy position would have been to walk away and leave policy making to others hoping that someone addresses the problem," he said. "I am choosing to take this head on."

As The Wire explained, it was always unlikely Jay-Z would drop a deal with Barneys potentially worth millions for his charity. And, no matter how jaded and cynical you are about Jay-Z's musical output or motives at this point, the deal was always about the charity. The rapper explained in his initial statement how a knee-jerk reaction would solve nothing. "This money is going to help individuals facing socio-economic hardships to help further their education at institutions of higher learning," Jay said. "I am against discrimination of any kind, but if I make snap judgements, no matter who it’s towards, aren’t I committing the same sin as someone who profiles?" he added later.

       

FBI: Anonymous Hackers Stole Over 100,000 Employees' Information

Hackers associated with Anonymous launched a year-long campaign to break into multiple government agency networks and steal the personal information of over 100,000 employees, contractors and family members, according to a recently distributed memo obtained by Reuters. 

The FBI memo, Reuters reports, was meant to call for administrators to clean up the mess left behind by Lauri Love, a 28-year-old British man arrested at the end of October for stealing employee personal information from the government. Love was accused of working with a team of hackers to leave malware in networks for the U.S. Army, NASA and the Missile Command Agency, among others, that gave them "back door" access to networks and allowed them to come and go as they pleased. Love and his co-conspirators, who the FBI believe were loosely-involved with the Anonymous hacking collective Anonymous, would re-enter the networks and steal the personal information of employees, contractors and family members. Despite Love's indictment, the FBI believes his co-workers have continued their campaign, "a widespread problem that should be addressed," the memo says.

Love's indictment said the team was working with the intent to widely distribute the stolen information online. According to a separate email sent at the beginning of October before Love's arrest, the trove of information stolen's by Love's team from one lone government agency was enough to raise eyebrows: 

According to an internal email from Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz' chief of staff, Kevin Knobloch, the stolen data included personal information on at least 104,000 employees, contractors, family members and others associated with the Department of Energy, along with information on almost 2,0000 [sic] bank accounts. 

The email went on to say officials were "very concerned" about possible thieving because of the loose banking information. Love faces two charges relating to hacking U.S. government computers in New Jersey. Lawyers are fighting to make sure Love won't get extradited to the U.S., and instead would only faces hacking charges in the U.K. The FBI is investigating three or four other hackers believed to be his main co-conspirators. One member of Anonymous, Jeremy Hammond, was sentenced to ten years in prison on Friday for hacking U.S. government computers. 

       

Albania Doesn't Want Syria's 1,300 Tons of Chemical Weapons

The ongoing attempt to destroy Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles hit a hurdle today, when Albania dared to refuse to host 1,300 tons of mustard gas and sarin.

Recent Nobel Peace Prize winners the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons have been charged with supervising the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons, which it has to do outside of Syria due to the country's lack of facilities and also the fact that it's in the middle of a civil war. Albania was apparently its best hope (and, according to Reuters, the United States' only choice) for a location to store and destroy the weapons, but its citizens weren't exactly thrilled with the idea, holding protests outside Prime Minister Edi Rama's office.

They have plenty of reason to be cautious. In 2008, the Associated Press points out, 26 (or 28, according to Reuters) people were killed and 300 were wounded when an ammunition dump exploded.

They also have reason to agree to it: Albania enjoys a close alliance with the United States, which pushed the Balkan country to agree to the proposal, and Rama said earlier in the week that he was in favor of the proposal and the rewards Albania would reap for accepting it.

But today he changed his mind, announcing "it is impossible for Albania to get involved in this operation" as "we lack the necessary capacities to get involved in this operation."

In 2007, Albania became the first (and still the only) country to destroy all of its chemical weapons, according to the OPCW, so it almost seems unfair to ask it to take on the destruction of someone else's.

It's unknown who will be asked to take the chemical weapons on instead, though senior OPCW official Malik Ellahi told the Associated Press that "there are options and there are ways in which this can be accomplished." The BBC reported that France is a "possible alternative site." Norway's probably off the hook, as it cleverly offered up its ships to transport the weapons to wherever they end up going, thus getting out of being asked to do anything else if the destruction of chemical weapons is anything like asking your friends to help you move.

But it does mean that today's deadline for the OPCW and Syria to agree on a plan to get rid of the weapons has been missed, although the OPCW did adopt a plan for the destruction of those weapons if not a location to do it.

Until now, the efforts to destroy Syria's weapons and weapon-manufacturing abilities had been progressing apace, with the country meeting a November 1 deadline to destroy all of its weapon-making equipment.

Over 120,000 people have been killed in Syria's civil war.

       

Anonymous Hacker Jeremy Hammond Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison

Anonymous and LulzSec member Jeremy Hammond was sentenced to 10 years in jail today, his punishment for pleading guilty to one count of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. It was the maximum time he faced.

Hammond, who went by "Anarchaos," was one of several LulzSec members turned in to the FBI by their own leader, Hector Xavier Monsegur (a.k.a "Sabu"). He was arrested March 2012 and plead guilty in May 2013 to hacking into the computers of a private intelligence firm called Stratfor.

The 28-year-old expected to be punished harshly, telling the Guardian yesterday that the prosecution's recommendation that he serve 10 years was a "vengeful, spiteful act." He used his sentencing statement to rail against the government and explain that his actions, though knowingly illegal, were the only way he knew to create change:

Could I have achieved the same goals through legal means? I have tried everything from voting petitions to peaceful protest and have found that those in power do not want the truth to be exposed. When we speak truth to power we are ignored at best and brutally suppressed at worst. We are confronting a power structure that does not respect its own system of checks and balances, never mind the rights of it’s [sic] own citizens or the international community.

He also mentioned Chelsea Manning:

I was particularly moved by the heroic actions of Chelsea Manning, who had exposed the atrocities committed by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. She took an enormous personal risk to leak this information – believing that the public had a right to know and hoping that her disclosures would be a positive step to end these abuses. It is heart-wrenching to hear about her cruel treatment in military lockup.

I thought long and hard about choosing this path again. I had to ask myself, if Chelsea Manning fell into the abysmal nightmare of prison fighting for the truth, could I in good conscience do any less, if I was able? I thought the best way to demonstrate solidarity was to continue the work of exposing and confronting corruption.

And said he only hacked into Stratfor's systems because Sabu, while working as an FBI informant, told him to:

I had never even heard of Stratfor until Sabu brought it to my attention. Sabu was encouraging people to invade systems, and helping to strategize and facilitate attacks. He even provided me with vulnerabilities of targets passed on by other hackers, so it came as a great surprise when I learned that Sabu had been working with the FBI the entire time.

In handing down the sentence, Judge Loretta A. Preska accused him of "causing mayhem" and "widespread harm," as well as displaying "unrepentant recidivism."

Hammond had the support of many, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which wrote a letter of support last week; Russell Brand, who tweeted that Hammond was a "legit hero"; and Wikileaks, which followed his sentencing by promptly releasing all of the files Hammond acquired from hacking Stratfor.

As he was lead out of the courtroom, New York Times reported, Hammond pumped a fist in the air and said "Long live Anonymous! Hurrah for anarchy!"

       

Alec Baldwin's MSNBC Show Will Not Be Seen Tonight, or Next Friday

Up Late With Alec Baldwin's five viewers are in for a sad surprise tonight: the show has been taken off MSNBC this and next week.

Baldwin revealed the sudden schedule change in a statement on MSNBC.com where he also apologized for calling a photographer a homophobic slur or two.

Or rather, he apologized for "the comments I made this past week" (without specifying what they were) and any offense anyone may have taken from them:

I would like to address the comments I made this past week.

I did not intend to hurt or offend anyone with my choice of words, but clearly I have – and for that I am deeply sorry. Words are important. I understand that, and will choose mine with great care going forward. What I said and did this week, as I was trying to protect my family, was offensive and unacceptable. Behavior like this undermines hard-fought rights that I vigorously support. I understand “Up Late” will be taken off the schedule for tonight and next week.

I want to apologize to my loyal fans and to my colleagues at msnbc – both for my actions and for distracting from their good work. Again, please accept my apology.

A clip posted earlier in the day from tonight's (no longer airing) show has been pulled from the site.

But will Up Late return the week after next, or will we have to look elsewhere for interviews with Cristina Tzintzun and Mary Brosnahan? No official announcement from MSNBC yet, but Baldwin tweeted this a few hours ago:

All good things must ......

— ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) November 15, 2013

Getting rid of Up Late wouldn't be a huge loss for MSNBC. Its ratings are pretty bad and Baldwin's apparent inability to control himself is, of course, a liability. But it would be embarrassing, since MSNBC knew full well what it was getting into and, just two months ago, network president Phil Griffin was saying he couldn't "wait to bring his personality and eclectic interests to MSNBC."

Last month, Griffin added that Baldwin was "a little different for us but I think it is a great fit."

       

Eric Holder May Have Just Toppled the First Domino in Ending NSA Surveillance

The top line news from an interview Attorney General Eric Holder gave to The Washington Post is that Holder recognizes Glenn Greenwald's work in exposing NSA — and Justice Department — surveillance as journalism and that he wouldn't be prosecuted. More important, is that Holder also supports reviewing past cases to inform defendants when evidence against them stemmed from that surveillance. That information could kick open the door to a Supreme Court challenge of the NSA's activity.

Given Holder's personal history with the media (remember the AP phone records collection?), it's understandable that his comments about Greenwald would get some attention.

“Unless information that has not come to my attention is presented to me, what I have indicated in my testimony before Congress is that any journalist who’s engaged in true journalistic activities is not going to be prosecuted by this Justice Department,” Holder said.

“I certainly don’t agree with what Greenwald has done,” Holder continued, but journalism — even journalism flavored with activism — is not a reason to consider criminal charges. On Friday morning, The New York Times published an editorial raising concerns about how the British government is treading on that country's freedom of the press. Holder's statement distances him from that danger — but unlike his British peers, Holder is constrained by the First Amendment.

But more important, the Justice Department is reviewing cases in which charges depended on information collected from NSA surveillance:

“We have a review underway now,” Holder said. … “We will be examining cases that are in a variety of stages, and we will be, where appropriate, providing defendants with information that they should have so they can make their own determinations about how they want to react to it.”

The importance of this lies in how the Supreme Court determines when it takes a case. Earlier this year, the Court dismissed a lawsuit filed by the ACLU and other groups because those groups couldn't demonstrate that they'd been surveilled under the NSA systems that they were contesting. A key component of the government's argument in that case, presented by Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, was that individuals who had been surveilled by the NSA were informed of that surveillance and could therefore file a lawsuit themselves. Given that there existed people with standing, the Court threw out the case.

But it turned out that the Justice Department hadn't been informing defendants when it used that surveillance. In August, defendants in a case in Chicago were told that Foriegn Intelligence Surveillance Act evidence would be used against them, though the Post suggests that the first relevant example of being informed about surveillance evidence came last week. The ACLU's Jameel Jaffer, who argued the case that was dismissed, told the Post that "it was a 'big deal' that 'will undoubtedly set up a constitutional challenge to it.'"

In other words, Holder may be facilitating, intentionally or not, the demise of the NSA's surveillance tools, if one of the informed defendants files a lawsuit and the Supreme Court finds that they violate the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches — a clear triumph for Edward Snowden and privacy advocates. At that point, Holder's opinion of Greenwald's work might change.

       

Gun Battles in Libyan Capital Leave 32 Dead, Hundreds Wounded

Intense fighting on the streets of Tripoli between Libyan militia groups and armed residents left at least 32 people dead and nearly 400 people wounded on Friday. It's the worst violence in the city in months, arguably since the 2011 overthrow of  Moammar Gaddafi. The fighting reportedly began as militia members opened fire on peaceful protestors calling for the groups to leave the capital city. Many demonstrators left the protests, only to return with weapons. 

The government of the country's new Prime Minister Ali Zeidan is trying to bring the country's disparate militia presence under control, or alternately expel the groups from the country. But that's not an easy task. The Washington Post reported on the country's struggle to handle the groups in September, noting that the militia groups once lauded for their role in deposing the country's former dictator haven't stopped engaging in armed battles in the years since then. The country's security following the overthrow was more or less left in their hands, as the weak central government had little at their disposal to to keep order. But many see that arrangement as counterproductive to the country's desire to move forward following Gaddafi's reign. Attempts to have the militias join the country's relatively small military have been largely unsuccessful. 

After the deadly fighting, Zeidan gave a televised speech demanding that all militia groups leave the country. But it's unclear if the government is even capable of enforcing that order. Zeidan himself has had a run-in with the militia groups in the country: in October, the leader was briefly seized by a militia group, only to be released hours later, apparently unharmed. 

       

'The Killing' Has Yet Another Life — On Netflix

Altogether improbably, The Killing, the show which survived death, is being revived again. This time for a season on Netflix. 

Yes, even after the show was cancelled back in September by AMC, it has been given another chance by Netflix. The streaming service ordered a six-episode limited series that, according to a release, will in fact be the final season. Sure, we believe that. Now, that's not entirely a bad thing. Our Richard Lawson wrote in August that the show "earned" another season. Still, it's life is sort of astonishing. 

The show was perhaps most notorious for leaving the central question of its debut season—"Who Killed Rosie Larsen?"—unsolved until the second season, leaving viewers and critics who watched the first season finale outraged.  It was cancelled after its second season by AMC but then revived by that same network for a third go-round in January, after talk had started swirling about it being picked up by Netflix. 

Now, Netflix truly is its savior. Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman, the show's two leads, have long-term contracts, Nellie Andreeva at Deadline writes, so they'll be back too. 

       

The Rob Ford Scandal Gets Sadder

The very weird story of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford took a turn towards the sad on Friday, after the Toronto Star published and then took down a report on a police investigation into a possible case of domestic abuse in the Ford household. (The original story is still available via Google's cache.) According to the story, which is based on a police report detailing an incident involving Ford's wife Renata about a year ago, no charges were filed. 

According to the report, Renata arrived in a taxi at her parent's house late one night, appearing to be inebriated. Renata got into an argument with the cab driver, who then called the police on her. The Star explains what allegedly happened next: 

[The police] observed that Mrs. Ford appeared to have bruising on her limbs. But, when asked about it, she refused to say how the injuries had been suffered. She was, in fact, too incoherent to say much of anything — either inebriated or on drugs

Police tried following up with Renata in the days following the incident, concerned that the bruises might indicated domestic abuse. But, the Star writes, "Mrs. Ford was not cooperative."

Star columnist Rosie DiManno, who wrote the story, told Talking Points Memo that the story was inadvertently set live "too early," and taken down in order to give the Fords more time to comment. DiManno did not say there were any factual issues in the story, however she does write in the piece that the Star's senior management decided to sit on the report for months after obtaining the police report. The version of events therein was confirmed with multiple law enforcement sources. Here's how DiManno justifies the paper's decision to hold, and now publish, the story: 

Nobody here had any stomach for expanding the scandal engulfing Toronto’s mayor to encompass his family, thereby causing harm, particularly to the couple’s two young children. But there is a strong argument to be made that those kids are at risk.

Renata rarely makes media appearances, with or without her husband. But on Thursday, she stood by the mayor at news conference addressing a series of allegations contained in newly-released court documents. Those included inappropriate sexual comments by Ford to members of his staff, and a series of new allegations pertaining to his excessive drug and alcohol use, including an alleged drunk driving habit. Ford has promised to sue the three former staffers who talked to the police about Ford's behavior. On Friday, the City Council attempted to provide some partial protection to members of Ford's current staff who might disclose further details of the mayor's indiscretions. The Council stripped the mayor of some of his powers, including his ability to hire and fire many senior staffers. 

This isn't the first time police have looked into a possible case of domestic abuse in the Ford household. In 2008, then-councillor Rob Ford placed a 911 call from his home following a dispute with his wife. The police charged him with assault and with uttering a death threat, according to the Star, but those charges were later dropped. There have been several other 911 calls from their home to police. According to the Star's sources, a member of the Ford family has in some way "intersected" with the police about two dozen times in the past eight years.