Jana Winter
Jana Winter is a former National Security Reporter at The Intercept. She worked as an investigative news reporter at FoxNews.com from 2008 until November 2014, breaking a wide range of stories involving wrongdoing at federal agencies, including at the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security. She also wrote exclusive reports on cyber investigations and the use of federal informants.
In 2012, Winter revealed that accused Colorado movie theater shooter James Holmes sent a notebook containing violent illustrations to his psychologist prior to his deadly rampage. The defense sought to force Winter to name her confidential law enforcement sources. She refused, sparking a nearly two-year legal battle that culminated in a landmark ruling from the New York Court of Appeals in her favor. The ruling kept Winter out of jail, reaffirmed the importance of confidential sources to news-gathering, and strengthened the state’s shield law.
Prior to San Bernardino Attack, Many Were Trained to Spot Terrorists; None Did
California has a cottage industry of counterterrorism training aimed at teaching people how to spot would-be terrorists before they attack. By all accounts, it has failed.
How Law Enforcement Can Use Google Timeline To Track Your Every Move
The recent expansion of Google’s Timeline feature can provide investigators unprecedented access to users’ location history data, allowing them in many cases to track a person’s every move over the course of years.
Facing Growing Encryption, Law Enforcement Recommends More Informants
A document created by an intelligence fusion center with the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis appears to serve as a primer for law enforcement on encryption, noting that increasing “public awareness of government surveillance has contributed to the rising consumer demand for covert messaging apps.”
Over 16,000 Alleged Terrorists Believed Dead, Yet Many Remain Watchlisted
As of last July, over 3,500 suspected terrorists included in the U.S. government’s central terror database were “confirmed dead” and another 13,000 were “reportedly dead,” yet many of their names continued to be actively monitored in databases like the no-fly list.