On the day that almost two dozen U.S. embassies and consulates across North Africa and the Middle East are closed following the identification of a significant threat from an al-Qaeda affiliate, a senior U.S. official is providing new details about the communications intercepted from the terrorists, telling ABC News that al-Qaeda operatives could be heard […]

Eschewing pleas and warnings from President Obama and other senior American officials, Russia granted Edward Snowden temporary asylum and allowed him to walk free out of a Moscow airport transit zone on Thursday, where he had been marooned in legal limbo for more than five weeks, reports the New York Times.  The White House is “extremely disappointed” […]

The Obama administration on Wednesday released formerly classified documents outlining a once-secret program of the National Security Agency that is collecting records of all domestic phone calls in the United States, as a newly leaked NSA document surfaced showing how the agency spies on Web browsing and other Internet activity abroad, reports the New York Times. On the […]

A military judge Tuesday acquitted Pfc. Bradley Manning of aiding the enemy — the most serious charge the Army intelligence analyst faced for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified military reports and diplomatic cables, Politico reports. But she convicted him of multiple counts of violating the Espionage Act, stealing government property and other charges that could result in a […]

The Senate overwhelmingly confirmed James Comey as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Monday even as Republicans and Democrats struggled to hold together the fragile deal that preserved the filibuster for executive branch appointees, reports the New York Times. Sen. Rand Paul had placed a hold on Comey’s nomination over questions about the bureau’s use of […]