[Infowarrior] - Pentagon's Counterspies: The Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA)

[Richard Forno]

National Security Archive Update, September 17, 2007

THE PENTAGON'S COUNTERSPIES: THE COUNTERINTELLIGENCE FIELD ACTIVITY (CIFA)

Documents Describe Organization and Operations of Controversial Agency and
Database

For more information contact:
Jeffrey Richelson - 202/994-7000

http://www.nsarchive.org

Washington D.C., September 17, 2007 - Today the National Security Archive
publishes a collection of documents concerning the organization and
operations of the Pentagon's Counterintelligence Field Activity and the
TALON/CORNERSTONE database it has maintained. As the Defense Department
announced on August 21, today that database will be terminated while work on
new procedures for reporting of threats to the Defense Department and its
facilities continues. In the interim, threat reports will be transmitted to
the FBI.

The declassified documents published today include the key Department of
Defense directive on the collection of information about Americans, as well
as documents on the organization and missions of CIFA, an evaluation of
charges of mismanagement by CIFA executives, and examples of data collected
about protest activities as part of the Threat And Local Observation Notice
(TALON) system.

Central to the collection are documents that show the internal and public
response by the Defense Department to questions raised about the propriety
of the data base – specifically, its collection and retention of data on
political protests. Also, included is a DoD Inspector General report on the
operation of the TALON system, identifying a number of problems in operation
of the system.

Visit the Web site of the National Security Archive for more information
about today's posting.

http://www.nsarchive.org