The Threat and Local Observation Notice (TALON) Report Program

"The Threat and Local Observation Notice (TALON) Report Program" report was issued June 27, 2007, by the Office of the Inspector General for Defense, U.S. Department of Defense, in which there were three conclusions:


 * 1) TALON reports were generated for law enforcement and force protection purposes as permitted by DoD Directive 5200.27, and not as a result of an intelligence collection operation; therefore, no violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act occurred.
 * 2) The Counterintelligence Field Activity did not comply with the 90 day retention review policy required by DoD Directive 5200.27. We could not determine whether the U.S. Northern Command complied with the policy requirement because all TALON reports were deleted from their database in June 2006 with no archives.
 * 3) The Cornerstone database that the Counterintelligence Field Activity used to maintain TALON reports did not have the capability to identify TALON reports with U.S. person information, to identify reports requiring a 90-day retention review, or to allow analysts to edit or delete the TALON reports.

Background
"Work began shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to establish an integrated force protection informationsharing system that would provide common situational awareness around military facilities for all the services. Concept development and design for [Project] Protect America, the precursor to the system, now dubbed the Joint Protection Enterprise Network (JPEN), began in February 2003. By the end of April, the pilot program was operational in the national capital region, and shortly thereafter the project was renamed Vision . With some additional guidance from Defense Department staff and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, the program was focused on Defense Department installations for a proof-of-concept approach. In July 2003, the project took its current name, JPEN," Cheryl Lilie wrote in the October 2004 issue of SIGNAL Magazine.

"Program management responsibilities, originally under the Joint Staff, transferred to U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM), Colorado Springs, Colorado, in December 2003.

NORTHCOM plans, programs and directs JPEN funding; coordinates requirements for software enhancements; and prioritizes JPEN deployment with staff elements. In addition, the command provides operational guidance to the JPEN program manager in the command and control program office, U.S. Navy Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence and Space, and the JPEN engineering element at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command Systems Center, both in San Diego," Lilie wrote.

"Although JPEN has changed hands and names several times since its inception, the way the program works essentially has remained the same. Users can document and share suspected criminal and suspicious activity information formatted as threat and local observation notice (TALON) reports. These reports consist of nonvalidated domestic threat information that may or may not be related to an actual threat against a facility. TALON reports include nonspecific threats, suspected surveillance activity, elicitation attempts, tests of security, unusual repetitive activity, bomb threats and any other suspicious, potential terrorist-related activity directed against Defense Department assets. JPEN also records information about other force protection incidents, including vehicles denied entry to installations—or vehicle turnarounds—and 'be on the lookout' (BOLO) reports of suspicious vehicles or individuals. ... Each incident or TALON report is documented in JPEN as an 'event'," Lilie wrote.

CellExchange Inc. is the company that initially developed JPEN.

CIFA - TALON Chronology
In August 2006, Marcy Wheeler put together a CIFA chronology with "some relevant dates", which ties in with the preceding. Research and reports by Walter Pincus of the Washington Post are noted in the references section. These and other additional items&mdash;identified as Note&mdash;have been inserted into the chronology.


 * September 2002, then Deputy Secretary of Defense for Counter-Intelligence Burtt (the guy who resigned [August 10, 2006]) establishes CIFA to oversee counterintelligence units of the armed services ; consulting on the new agency was James King, recently retired director of National Imagery and Mapping Agency and MZM vice president


 * Late 2002, Cunningham got Mitchell Wade a data storage contract worth $6 million, of which $5.4 was profit


 * Note: In May 2003, the TALON "fact-gathering operation" was initiated by former Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and the "data would be fed to CIFA to help the Pentagon's 'terrorism threat warning process,' according to an internal Pentagon memo."


 * Note: "According to its contract, MZM was to 'assist the government in identifying and procuring data' on maps, as well as 'airports, ports, dams, churches/mosques/synagogues, schools (and) power plants.' The company also received three contracts to provide undisclosed 'intelligence services' directly to the White House."


 * Note: In June 2003, the Pentagon revived the citizen-based reporting program Operation TIPS by implementing TALON to "contain 'raw, non-validated' reports of 'anomalous activities' within the United States" and to "provide a mechanism to collect and rapidly share reports 'by concerned citizens and military members regarding suspicious incidents.'"


 * January 2004, Cunningham added $16.5 million to defense authorization for a "collaboration center" that appears to include business for Wade's company


 * Note: "At a May 2004 hearing before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Carol A. Haave, then deputy undersecretary of defense for counterterrorism and security, said that 'more than 5,000 Talon reports have been received and shared throughout the government' in the program's first year of operation. At that rate, about 12,500 Talon reports would have been filed during the approximately 2 1/2 years the program has existed."


 * Note: In late June 2005, the Pentagon halted any new work for MZM under the 2002 contract and Cunningham "acknowledged ... that his relationship with MZM founder Mitchell J. Wade [was] being examined by federal authorities."


 * Note: In November 2005, the Pentagon proposed to "transform CIFA from an office that coordinates Pentagon security efforts -- including protecting military facilities from attack -- to one that also has authority to investigate crimes within the United States such as treason, foreign or terrorist sabotage or even economic espionage."


 * December 2005, Pincus reveals a CIFA database contains raw intelligence data on peace activists    (and, presumably, Jesus' General)


 * Note: The Report states that of 1,131 TALON reports deleted between December 2, 2005, through January 18, 2006, 263 "were related to protests and demonstrations".


 * Note: On December 18, 2005, a "former senior Pentagon intelligence official, familiar with CIFA" noted "that there had been no congressional oversight of CIFA, that the Defense Department is 'too big, too rich an organization and should not be left unfettered. They rush in where there is a vacuum.' ... A former senior counterterrorism official, also familiar with CIFA, said, 'What you are seeing is the militarization of counterterrorism.'" In December 2005, the Defense Department "gave CIFA authority to task domestic investigations and operations by the counterintelligence units of the military services. ... CIFA's new authority will give the agency the ability to propose missions to Army, Navy and Air Force units."


 * Note: In January 2006, CIFA admitted to "finding 'irregularities' in about one of every 100 reports of suspicious activity that were entered into its [Cornerstone] database. ... The Pentagon considers 'irregularities' to be reports involving people or groups that have remained in the database too long -- more than 90 days -- without being verified as representing real threats. In some cases, the review has shown they should not have been included in the first place."


 * March 2006, prosecutors in the Cunningham case announce they're reviewing CIFA contracts to MZM


 * March 2006, Stephen Cambone announces an investigation of CIFA's contracting --the investigation is (like the investigation into Dougie Feith ) "ongoing"


 * May 2006, Porter Goss resigns   under allegations of ties to the Wilkes/Wade bribery ring


 * May 2006, House Intelligence Committee (Peter Hoekstra 's Committee) first moves to exercise oversight on CIFA


 * August 2006, CIFA director and deputy director resign


 * Note: October 18, 2006, Pincus wrote: "Since Cunningham had no authority to award contracts, he needed the acquiescence of some members of Congress, congressional staff members and Defense Department officials, according to the executive summary of an investigation by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence into his activities as a panel member."

Destruction of TALON reports
On July 2, 2007, Wheeler added to this chronology the new piece of information that, in June 2006 "USNCO [USNORTHCOM?] destroys all the TALON reports".

"Get it?," Wheeler asks. U.S. attorney "Carol Lam is closing in on MZM and its contracting. Two very compromised Republicans announce they're going to review this stuff. And then one month later ... POOF!!! All the records of this domestic spying program disappear, like magic!! And then two months later the guys running the program resign, suddenly."

"Here's the sole explanation they offer for the incredible disappearing USNCO [USNORTHCOM?] database," Wheeler wrote July 2, 2007:


 * "We could not determine whether USNORTHCOM complied with the DoD 90-day retention review policy because all TALON reports were deleted from JPEN [USNORTHCOM's Joint Protection Enterprise Network] on November 30, 2005, without being archived, and the system was turned off in June 2006."

"Notice how they change the date, November 2005 for June 2006? Know what happened just two days before these reports were deleted, on November 28, 2005? Duke Cunningham made his plea deal There. That makes you feel better, doesn't it?," Wheeler commented.

Program terminated?
The following is according to the DoD IG's June 27, 2007, Report:


 * "In April 2007, the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence requested that the Secretary of Defense terminate the TALON program because the results of the last year do not merit continuing the program as currently constituted, particularly in light of its image in the Congress and the media."

"Air Force Lt. General James R. Clapper, Jr. told an informal gathering of reporters April 24 [2007] that he would recommend the program be ended.

"Department of Defense spokesperson Maj. Patrick Ryder said Clapper 'has assessed the results of the TALON program and does not believe they merit continuing the program as currently constituted, particularly in light of its image in the Congress and the media.'

"However, Ryder said, Clapper does not have the authority to end the program. That can only come from Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who has given no indication what he will do with the recommendation or when. In the mean time, the program continues."

Related SourceWatch articles

 * ADVISE
 * Bush administration U.S. attorney firings controversy
 * George W. Bush's domestic spying: Related SourceWatch articles
 * Guardian Threat Tracking System (Guardian)
 * James C. King
 * MZM Inc.
 * Randy "Duke" Cunningham
 * System to Assess Risk (STAR)

Reports

 * "No Real Threat. The Pentagon's Secret Database on Peaceful Protest," ACLU, January 2007.
 * Undated "Review of the TALON Reporting System" Memorandum (4-page pdf), internal DoD memo, released January 17, 2007, by the ACLU.
 * "TALON Report 1" (31-page pdf), November 9, 2004, obtained by the ACLU.

2004

 * Joshua Green, "Playing Dirty. This year's presidential campaign is already shaping up to be even more negative than the last. That's no accident. Our correspondent looks at the cloak-and-dagger world of opposition research—the updated version of 'dirty tricks'," The Atlantic Monthly, June 2004.
 * Michael Isikoff, "Intelligence: The Pentagon—Spying in America?" Newsweek (MSNBC), June 21, 2004.

2005

 * Walter Pincus, "Intelligence Center, Contractor MZM on Cozy Terms," Washington Post, July 17, 2005.
 * Michael Hampton, "Pentagon to increase domestic surveillance, intelligence sharing," Homeland Stupidity, August 4, 2005.
 * Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball, "Domestic Defense. Could proposed new intelligence-gathering powers for the Pentagon lead to spying on U.S. citizens? The question is being asked as the White House considers new roles for the military inside America's borders," Newsweek (MSNBC), October 5, 2005.
 * Matt Kelley and Jim Drinkard, "Secret military spending gets little oversight," USA TODAY, November 9, 2005.
 * Laura Rozen, "Wade, Wilkes and Bad Intelligence?" War and Piece Blog, December 11, 2005.
 * Michael Hampton, "1-800-CALL-SPY: Military intelligence database short on threats, long on stupid," Homeland Stupidity, December 14, 2005.
 * Walter Pincus, "Pentagon's Intelligence Authority Widens. Fact Sheet Details Secretive Agency's Growth From Focus on Policy to Counterterrorism," Washington Post, December 19, 2005.

2006

 * Michael Hampton, "What military intelligence?" Homeland Stupidity, January 24, 2006.
 * Charles R. Babcock, "Contractor Pleads Guilty to Corruption. Probe Extends Beyond Bribes to Congressman," Washington Post, February 25, 2006.
 * "Pentagon admits errors in spying on protesters. NBC: Official says peaceful demonstrators’ names erased from database," MSNBC and NBC News, March 10, 2006.
 * Jane Hamsher, "FDL Late Nite: Trust Us," Firedoglake Blogspot, March 16, 2006.
 * Jonathan S. Landay, "Pentagon Hired Contractor to Advise on Collecting Information on Churches, Mosques, Other US Site," Knight Ridder (Common Dreams), March 18, 2006.
 * Laura Rozen, "WH Intel Contracts Mystery Solved?" War and Piece Blog, March 21, 2006.
 * Justin Rood, "Three MZM Staff Worked on White House Intel Panel," TPMmuckraker, March 21, 2006.
 * Michael Hampton, "DoD: Only 2% crap in military intelligence database," Homeland Stupidity, April 7, 2006.
 * Robert Dreyfuss, "The Pentagon's New Spies. The military has built a vast domestic-intelligence network to fight terrorism -- but it's using it to track students, grandmothers and others protesting the war," Rolling Stone, April 18, 2006.
 * Justin Rood, "Defense Domestic Spying Chief Out; Here's His Email," TPMmuckraker, August 10, 2006.
 * Chitra Ragavan, "Capitol Crooks. It started with the bribery indictment of California Rep. Randall 'Duke' Cunningham, but before it's over, a sprawling investigation into a Pentagon contractor called MZM could snare some of Washington's most powerful inside players," U.S. News & World Report, September 17, 2006.
 * Michael Hampton, "Homeland Security contributed bad data to military intelligence database," Homeland Stupidity, November 22, 2006.

2007

 * David Corn, "The Cunningham Scandal: A White House Link?" The Nation (Common Dreams), March 28, 2007.
 * Digby, "Caught In The Buzzsaw," Hullabaloo Blogspot, April 1, 2007.
 * Marcy Wheeler, "Domestic Spying and Opposition Research," The Next Hurrah Blogspot, April 2, 2007.
 * "Pentagon considers ending threat report system," Reuters, April 24, 2007.
 * Ken Silverstein, "Six Questions for Marcus Stern on Duke Cunningham," Harper's Magazine, May 22, 2007.
 * Tim Shorrock, "The corporate takeover of U.S. intelligence. The U.S. government now outsources a vast portion of its spying operations to private firms -- with zero public accountability," Salon, June 1, 2007.
 * News Release: "DoD to Implement Interim Threat Reporting Procedures," U.S. Department of Defense, August 21, 2007.
 * Frank James, "Pentagon ditches Wolfowitz's baby--threat database," The Swamp Blog/Chicago Tribune, August 21, 2007.
 * Robert Burns, "Pentagon to Suspend Anti-Terror Database," Associated Press (Washington Post), August 21, 2007.
 * News Release: "ACLU Applauds Decision to Shut Down Pentagon Database of Secret Information on Peaceful Groups. Group Says Congressional Review and Future Vigilance Still Needed," ACLU, August 21, 2007.
 * B Merryfield, "TALON reports go down the rabbit hole," The Daily Kos, August 21, 2007.
 * Marcy Wheeler (emptywheel), "TALON, Guardian, Insert Your Name of the Week," The Next Hurrah Blog, August 21, 2007.
 * Ryan Singel, "Pentagon Shutting Down Domestic Spying Database," WIRED/Threat Level Blog, August 21, 2007.
 * Spencer Ackerman, "DOD 'Talon' Database Declawed," TPMmuckraker, August 21, 2007.
 * Robert Burns, "Pentagon to shut down controversial antiterror database. System criticized for storing reports on peace activists," Associated Press (Boston Globe), August 22, 2007.

Response to the Report

 * Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo, July 2, 2007.
 * Joseph Cannon, "TALON and Cunningham," Cannonfire Blogspot, July 2, 2007.
 * Digby, "Digging the Dirt," Hullabaloo Blogspot, July 3, 2007.
 * Marcy Wheeler, "Domestic Spying and Opposition Research," The Next Hurrah Blogspot, July 3, 2007.
 * Marcy Wheeler, "75 out of 1131," The Next Hurrah Blogspot, July 3, 2007.

Other related external articles

 * George W. Bush's domestic spying: external articles for 2001-2005 and 2006