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For Immediate Release
October, 25 2016, 03:30pm EDT
Tuesday October, 25 2016, 03:30pm EDT
Contact:
Evan Greer, press@fightforthefuture.org
For-Profit AT&T Spying Program is Worse Than Snowden Revelations
Fight for the Future statement in response to report detailing AT&T’s massive secret surveillance program, paid for with taxpayer money
WASHINGTON
WASHINGTON - Today, it was revealed that AT&T has been running a massive secret spying program--funded by tens of millions in taxpayer money--for state and local law enforcement agencies to conduct warrantless searches of trillions of call records and other extremely sensitive customer data such as precise physical location. Fight for the Future, a digital rights group known for its high profile campaigns for free speech and online security, released the following statement, which can be attributed to campaign director, Evan Greer:
"The for-profit spying program that these documents detail is more terrifying than the illegal NSA surveillance programs that Edward Snowden exposed. Far beyond the NSA and FBI, these tools are accessible to a wide range of law enforcement officers including local police, without a warrant, as long as they pay up. It makes me sick to my stomach thinking about it. Customers trusted AT&T with some of their most private information, and the company turned around and literally built a product to sell that information to as many government agencies and police departments as they could. Not only did they fail to have any safeguards to prevent unauthorized use of the data, they actually required law enforcement to keep the program secret and dig up or fabricate other evidence, to hide the fact that they'd received information from AT&T. If companies are allowed to operate in this manner without repercussions, our democracy has no future. We call on AT&T to immediately shut down this illegal and unethical spying program, and we demand that the U.S. department of Justice launch an investigation into the use of the Hemisphere spying program, and reveal all court cases where Hemisphere was used so that they can be reviewed."
Fight for the Future is a group of artists, engineers, activists, and technologists who have been behind the largest online protests in human history, channeling Internet outrage into political power to win public interest victories previously thought to be impossible. We fight for a future where technology liberates -- not oppresses -- us.
(508) 368-3026LATEST NEWS
Harvard and Princeton Are the Latest Ivies to Have Their Funding Targeted By Trump
One critic wrote that an email from Harvard University's president about the Trump administration's funding review capitulated to the "bogus premise that this is about 'protecting' students against antisemitism."
Apr 01, 2025
This week, Harvard University learned that Trump administration is reviewing nearly $9 billion in federal grants awarded to the school and Princeton University has had multiple research grants suspended by multiple federal agencies—making the two institutions the latest in series of elite colleges to have their funding threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump.
In the case of Harvard, the scrutiny from the Trump administration is explicitly tied to Trump's pledge to crackdown on what he sees as rampant antisemitism on college campuses.
In the name of opposing antisemitism, Trump has vowed to target foreign-born students who have engaged in pro-Palestine protests, activities that the president has described as "pro-jihadist." Several students who have taken part in pro-Palestine activism have already been targeted for deportation.
According to a Monday statement from the U.S. Department of Education, multiple federal agencies are launching a comprehensive review of federal contracts and grants at Harvard as part of the ongoing efforts of the Trump administration's Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism.
The task force will review over $255.6 million in contracts between Harvard, its affiliates, and the federal government, as well as $8.7 billion in multiyear grant commitments to the university and its affiliates to ensure "the university is in compliance with federal regulations, including its civil rights responsibilities."
"Harvard's failure to protect students on campus from antisemitic discrimination—all while promoting divisive ideologies over free inquiry—has put its reputation in serious jeopardy. Harvard can right these wrongs and restore itself to a campus dedicated to academic excellence and truth-seeking, where all students feel safe on its campus," said Education Secretary Linda McMahon in a statement on Monday.
In a message that was denounced by multiple observers, Harvard's president Alan Garber wrote in a Monday message to the Harvard community that the school has devoted "considerable effort" to addressing antisemitism on its campus over the past 15 months, including by "enhancing training and education on antisemitism."
"We still have much work to do," wrote Garber. "We will engage with members of the federal government's task force to combat antisemitism to ensure that they have a full account of the work we have done and the actions we will take going forward to combat antisemitism."
"If this funding is stopped, it will halt lifesaving research and imperil important scientific research and innovation," he also wrote.
Researcher Hannah Gais, a graduate of Harvard Divinity School, wrote on Monday that Garber's message "completely caves to the administration and its bogus premise that this is about 'protecting' students against antisemitism."
"What a disgraceful letter from Harvard president Alan Garber, surrendering entirely to Trump and the pernicious nonsense that America's universities, some of the greatest and most Jewish institutions in American life, are rife with antisemitism," wrote historian and editor Sam Haselby on X.
Meanwhile, the president of Princeton told the university community on Tuesday that several research grants to the university have been suspended by the federal government.
"The full rationale for this action is not yet clear, but I want to be clear about the principles that will guide our response," wrote Princeton president Christopher L. Eisgruber on Tuesday, according to The New York Times. "Princeton University will comply with the law. We are committed to fighting antisemitism and all forms of discrimination, and we will cooperate with the government in combating antisemitism."
In February, the Task Force to Combat Antisemitism announced that it would be investigating 10 universities, including Harvard and Columbia University—which recently had $400 million in federal grants revoked by the Trump administration. That list did not include Princeton, though Princeton was one of 60 colleges that received letters last month from the U.S. Department of Education that warned of potential actions against schools if the government found they had not done enough to protect Jewish students.
After the Trump administration stripped Columbia of the $400 million, the administration announced later in March that it was freezing $175 million in federal funds for the University of Pennsylvania, citing the university's policies on transgender athletes.
In March, Columbia announced a number of changes to the school that aligned with the wishes of the Trump administration as part of negotiations over the rescinded $400 million in federal grants—prompting a wave of criticism of the university.
In an opinion piece for Common Dreamspublished on Tuesday, Steve Striffler, the director of the Labor Resource Center at the University of Massachusetts Boston, argued that it is not wholly accurate to say that Columbia's changes were a "capitulation" to the Trump administration.
Instead, "it seems quite likely that Columbia's leaders accepted Trump's demands not so much because they were forced to (capitulate), or because they saw fighting as either futile or potentially disastrous, but because they welcomed the opportunity and political cover that Trump's order provided," he wrote.
'It Can't Be Business as Usual': Cory Booker Praised for Marathon Stand Against Trump-Musk
"More of this energy from every Democrat please," said one progressive commentator as the New Jersey lawmaker continued to hold the floor of the U.S. Senate with a speech that has lasted more than 20 hours—and counting.
Apr 01, 2025
This is a developing news story... Please check back for possible updates.
Answering the voting public's growing call for the Democratic Party to actually stand up to Republicans' sweeping assault on the federal government, led by U.S. President Donald Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk, Sen. Cory Booker took to the Senate floor at 7:00 pm Eastern Time on Monday and was still speaking as of Tuesday afternoon.
Early in his remarks, Booker (D-N.J.) cited the example of late Congressman John Lewis (D-Ga.), a civil rights icon who famously declared in 2020, "Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America."
Booker, who ran for president in 2020, explained Monday that he asked himself, "If he's my hero, how am I living up to his words?"
"What's happened in the past 71 days in a patent demonstration of a time where John Lewis' call to everyone has, I think, become more urgent and more pressing," Booker said. "So, tonight, I rise tonight with the intention of getting in some good trouble. I rise with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able."
"I rise tonight because I believe sincerely that our country is in crisis—and I believe that not in a partisan sense, because so many of the people that have been reaching out to my office in pain, in fear, having their lives upended, so many of them identify themselves as Republicans," the senator continued.
Booker stressed that "bedrock commitments are being broken, unnecessary hardships are being borne by Americans of all backgrounds, and institutions which are special in America, which are precious, which are unique in our country, are being recklessly and I would say even unconstitutionally affected, attacked, and even shattered."
"In just 71 days, the president of the United States has inflicted so much harm on Americans' safety, financial stability, the core foundations of our democracy, and even our aspirations as a people for, from our highest offices, a sense of common decency. These are not normal times in America, and they should not be treated as such," he argued. "I can't allow this body to continue without doing something different, speaking out. The threats to American people and American democracy are grave and urgent, and we all must do more—we all must do more against them."
Booker accused the president of "betraying" America and causing "chaos, instability, and harm" by working to gut a wide range of programs—an effort spearheaded by Trump's Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency—while seeking tax cuts for wealthy people and corporations, which Republicans are trying to push through Congress.
Over several hours, the senator addressed topics such as GOP attacks on healthcare, including efforts to cut Medicaid; attempts to dismantle the Social Security Administration and the U.S. Department of Education; a mass deportation agenda that has swept up immigrants like Kilmar Abrego Garcia; and the administration's "national security policies that are leaving our allies abandoned, our adversaries emboldened, and Americans less safe."
Throughout Booker's many hours standing at the podium—he reportedly had the chair removed to avoid the temptation to sit down—he sporadically yielded for a question from a Democratic colleague while retaining the floor, which gave him opportunities to rest his voice and transition from topic to topic.
As The Associated Pressreported: "Democratic aides watched from the chamber's gallery, and Sen. Chris Murphy accompanied Booker throughout his speech. Murphy was returning the comradeship that Booker had given to him in 2016 when the Connecticut Democrat held the floor for almost 15 hours to argue for gun control legislation."
Other Democrats who asked questions of Booker included Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (Md.), Michael Bennet (Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Maria Cantwell (Wash.), Chris Coons (Del.), Tammy Duckworth (Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (N.M.), Ed Markey (Mass.), Patty Murray (Wash.), Alex Padilla (Calif.), Jack Reed (R.I.), Adam Schiff (Calif.), Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Chris Van Hollen (Md.), Raphael Warnock (Ga.), Mark Warner (Va.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Peter Welch (Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), and Ron Wyden (Ore.). Independent Sen. Angus King (Maine), who caucuses with Democrats, also joined in.
Many of them praised Booker's stunt—as did Trump critics across social media, including Democrats in the lower chamber such as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (Minn.), who declared that "this is the kind of relentless resistance our democracy demands."
As of press time, Booker had been speaking for over 20 hours. Congressman Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said: "Proud of Cory Booker! It would be poetic justice if he beats Strom Thurmond's record of speaking 24 hours and 18 minutes to block the 1957 Civil Rights Act. Yes, the longest filibuster in our nation's history was to block civil rights."
Booker's move came amid calls for Schumer to step down as minority leader after caving to Republicans during the latest government shutdown crisis, and as polling shows that a large majority of registered Democrats and Independent voters who lean Democratic are frustrated with the party for not effectively fighting Trump and supporting working poeple.
Sharing the livestream on social media Tuesday, the American Federation of Teachers said: "Sen. Booker has been standing on the Senate floor since last night, speaking powerfully on behalf of families and our nation. Thank you for your unwavering leadership, Sen. Booker."
Matt Royer of Young Democrats of America asserted that what Booker "is doing is heroic and courageous and exactly what we're looking for from Washington during this time. If you are not following along with this and why he is doing it, you absolutely should."
Podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen similarly pleaded, "More of this energy from every Democrat please."
'Absolute Bloodbath' as Trump Administration Eviscerates Federal Health Agencies
"There is no way this makes Americans healthier."
Apr 01, 2025
HIV prevention. Anti-tobacco advocacy. The safety of mining workers.
All are among the health priorities that evidently have no place in U.S. President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's vision to "Make America Healthy Again," following the mass firing of 10,000 people at the nation's top health agencies on Tuesday.
The layoffs hit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with some staffers informed of their dismissal after they arrived at work—only to be told to return home.
Kayla Tausche at CNN reported that laid off employees at the HHS building in Rockville, Maryland were forced to do a "walk of shame" past dozens of their former colleagues who were lined up outside the building, waiting to learn their own fate.
The employees who were laid off Monday evening into Tuesday are the latest of more than 100,000 federal workers who have lost their jobs since Trump took office and placed billionaire tech mogul and megadonor Elon Musk at the help of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Last week, Kennedy said the federal health agency workforce would be reduced from about 82,000 to 62,000 people, with the restructuring making room for what he called "the Administration for a Healthy America" at HHS.
"We're going to do more with less," said the secretary, who has expressed skepticism about the scientifically proven benefits of vaccinations and claimed without evidence that the rate of chronic disease rose over the four years that former President Joe Biden was in the White House.
Kennedy said last week that communications for the health agencies would be brought under his control in the "restructuring," and many of the layoffs impacted people responsible for relaying information to the public.
Twenty people who handle public communications for one National Institutes of Health (NIH) program analyzing the genes of volunteers for health research were among those placed on administrative leave Tuesday—a precursor to being laid off, one official toldUSA Today.
The FDA's Office of Media Affairs was also disbanded, as well as most of the 50-person communications team for the agency's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, which manages information on drug approvals, shortages, and potential risks.
"The general public likely won't feel the results of these HHS layoffs immediately," said Larry Levitt, executive vice president of KFF. "But eventually, these layoffs will affect the health information available to people, access to care and prevention, and oversight of health and social services."
Other impacted employees include those in internal agencies focused on the health of senior citizens, people with disabilities, and minority communities, and workers studying asthma, lead poisoning, radiation damage, and the health effects of extreme heat and wildfires.
The administration appeared to see HIV prevention as a key target, placing the director of the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention on administrative leave and dismantling teams that do HIV research and surveillance.
Despite his claims last week about wanting to fight chronic disease, Kennedy did not outline plans to better equip the federal government to fight heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. At the CDC, The New York Times reported Tuesday, "entire departments studying chronic diseases and environmental problems were cut."
In a post on LinkedIn on Tuesday, former FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, who served under Biden and former President Barack Obama, said the agency "as we've known it is finished" and warned the federal government was losing critical institutional knowledge by firing thousands of people.
"I believe that history will see this [as] a huge mistake," said Califf. "I will be glad if I'm proven wrong, but even then there is no good reason to treat people this way. It will be interesting to hear from the new leadership how they plan to put 'Humpty Dumpty' back together again."
Journalist Sam Stein of The Bulwarkcalled the mass firings "an absolute bloodbath" with a "generation of scientists, healthcare officials being wiped out."
Brown University professor Dr. Craig Spencer said the country "will regret this."
"These are the people who make sure the medications you and your children take are safe. These are the people who perform and oversee research on cancer, infant health, and so, so, so much more. These are the people who make sure new devices that physicians and patients use are effective," said Spencer. "And now, thousands of them are gone. There is no way this makes Americans healthier."
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