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The Obama Justice Department official appointed by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to scrutinize the FBI’s FISA reforms determined the bureau’s reforms would be insufficient without a change in the FBI’s culture. David Kris, a controversial pick for the job after his full-throated defenses of the FBI’s decision-making throughout the Trump-Russia investigation, said the changes FBI Director Christopher Wray proposed in the wake of DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s damning report on FISA abuse were insufficient and told the court its review “should not obscure the larger issues presented.” “Standards and procedures, checklists and questionnaires, automated workflows, training modules, and...

(snips) In the second half of Devin Nunes interview with Maria Bartiromo today he was asked his thoughts about the FISA Court selecting David Kris as an FBI surveillance and compliance monitor. The issue is quite important because the FBI FISA reforms and promises are essentially meaningless without some form of structural review process. However, the new 2020 FISC Presiding Judge James Boasberg selecting David Kris has been noted by several people as a rather weak effort on behalf of the court. As an outcome of our former FISA-702 reviews CTH has an entirely different reason for questioning the selection...

Former DOJ official David Kris was picked Friday to oversee the FBI’s reforms of its surveillance procedures in the wake of a damning inspector general’s report. Kris was an ardent defender of the FBI’s surveillance of Carter Page. He was also a vocal critic of Republicans who suggested the FBI misled the surveillance court in its applications to wiretap Page. In one essay, Kris endorsed a suggestion that Rep. Devin Nunes should face obstruction of justice charges. Nunes told the Daily Caller News Foundation the choice of Kris is “shocking and inexplicable.” former Justice Department official picked Friday to oversee...

Last month presiding FISA judge Rosemary Collyer announced she would be stepping down early due to ‘health issues.’ Chief Justice Roberts tapped Judge James Boasberg, an Obama appointee to replace Collyer. On Friday, Judge Boasberg announced in an order that he has appointed Obama-era national security leader at the DOJ David S. Kris as amicus counsel to review the reforms the FBI will be making to its FISA application process. This order was in response to the FBI abusing the FISA process after it obtained a total of four FISA warrants on Carter Page. The government had until Friday January...

President Trump’s former immigration adviser and populist conservative Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is leading in the state’s latest gubernatorial race, a new poll reveals. The latest Emerson College Poll has Kobach leading the race by one percentage point, taking 37 percent while liberal Democrat Laura Kelly takes 36 percent of the vote. Independent candidate, Greg Orman, takes less than ten percent of the vote, while 15 percent of Kansans said they are still undecided as to whom they will vote for. Kobach is expecting a boost in the polls after this weekend when Trump flies to Kansas to...

Kansas signed the Second Amendment Protection Act (SB 102) into law last month. The bill protects gun owners from from new federal gun control laws and would actually make it illegal to enforce those laws within the state of Kansas. Eric Holder threatened Kansas last week calling the new state law unconstitutional. In response Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, fired back. The general gist of the message was, “You’re wrong. You don’t understand the Constitution. Bring it on.” Via Guns Save Lives: Kobach insisted the State of Kansas was determined to restore the Constitution to protect the right of...

"Obama's Assistant Attorney General Tells Senate: Terrorists Captured on Battlefield Have Constitutional Rights" SNIPPET: "“Does that infer that these individuals have constitutional rights?” McCain asked Kris. “Ah, yes,” Kris answered. “What are those constitutional rights of people who are not citizens of the United States of America, who were captured on a battlefield committing acts of war against the United States?” McCain asked. “Our analysis, Senator, is that the due process clause applies to military commissions and imposes a constitutional floor on the procedures that the government sets on such commissions …” Kris said. “So you are saying that these...

Newsweek speculated that there was a Christian voting bloc that would affect the outcome of the American Idol finale -- and others pondered that there  might be an anti-gay backlash against Adam. (Although no one but he knows for sure what his true inclinations are...)I'm not going to suggest that there wasn't a whole bunch of conservative folks voting for Kris -- I'm certain there were, considering that Idol is one of the few shows that (for the most part) is family friendly and appeals to all ages. But honestly that would be a "Pro-Kris" vote, not an "Anti-Adam" vote.Adam obviously was...

The Dixie Chicks appear to be more popular than the president these days. President Bush's approval rating has plummeted, but the Chicks are on top of the pop and country charts with their first album since publicly criticizing Bush three years ago. They did it without the support of country radio, which largely ignored the Dixie Chicks after lead singer Natalie Maines told a London audience in 2003 that the group was ashamed Bush was from their home state of Texas. The new album, "Taking the Long Way," took the No. 1 spot Wednesday on the country albums chart and...

Rob Reiner better watch his back. It now appears that an outside audit – at the least – will be done of the California Children and Families Commission because it used $23 million in taxpayer funds for TV ads touting “preschool for all” at the same time Reiner, a commission board member, was circulating petitions for his “preschool for all” initiative. And when investigators come to chat, the executive director of the commission just might not go along with the cover story that it was all one big “coincidence” that the TV ads ran at the same time as the...

Two military officers will join marching bands, equestrian teams and colorful floats traveling down Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, Calif., at the 115th Annual Tournament of Roses Parade on Jan. 1. Air Force Reserve Maj. Tami Rougeau, and Army National Guard Capt. Kris Marshall, along with their families and civilian employers, will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the event. The officers were the subjects of the winning essays in the "Heroes Among Us" essay contest sponsored by the National Military Family Association and the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve organization. Georgia Army National Guard Capt. Kris Marshall, commander, Alpha...