Politico Massachusetts Playbook: WARREN dominates debate — NANGLE resigns leadership post — BOSTON battles rising seas

WARREN dominates debate — NANGLE resigns leadership post — BOSTON battles rising seas

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By Stephanie Murray

GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. WARREN'S ADRENALINE SHOT — With the Nevada caucuses just days away, Elizabeth Warren needed a hail Mary on Wednesday night in Las Vegas. And she got it in the form of the Medford native turned New York City billionaire standing beside her: Michael Bloomberg. "I'd like to talk about who we're running against. A billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse faced lesbians, and no, I'm not talking about Donald Trump," Warren said in the opening minutes of the debate. "I'm talking about Mayor Bloomberg. Democrats are not going to win if we have a nominee who has a history of hiding his tax returns, of harassing women. And of supporting racist policies like red lining and stop and frisk." Warren was a dominant force on the debate stage for the rest of the night. In many ways, it was a return to the persona that made Warren a star on the left. And it was a side of the Massachusetts Senator that a number of her supporters felt was missing over the last several weeks as she sought to be a unifier in the party, rather than go on the offensive against her rivals. But Bloomberg, who has spent upwards of $370 million on advertising, was the perfect foil to a campaign that sells mugs emblazoned with the words "BILLIONAIRE TEARS." Warren took it a step further after the debate, saying in a CNN interview that Bloomberg should just give up. "Mike Bloomberg drop out of the race. Keep putting your money to help Democrats beat Donald Trump and take your ego out of this," Warren said. Warren also went after the other moderates last night, equating former Mayor Pete Buttigieg's health care plan to a "powerpoint" and Sen. Amy Klobuchar's to a "post-it note." It's not clear whether her performance last night will translate into a win in Nevada or in the South Carolina primary days later, but Warren was able to move the ball forward — she raised $2.8 million yesterday, according to her campaign. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com. TODAY — Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito make a MassWorks announcement in Newton. Baker holds a press conference to discuss the new hands-free driving law which takes effect on Feb. 23. Rep. Ayanna Pressley celebrates Black History Month in Chelsea. Rep. Jim McGovern tours Worcester Public Market.

DATELINE BEACON HILL

- "Embattled Lowell state Rep. David Nangle resigns top posts amid corruption charges," by Mary Markos, Boston Herald: "Indicted Lowell state Rep. David Nangle stepped down Wednesday from leadership and committee posts a day after pleading not guilty to 28 federal charges in his corruption case — but he did not resign. "I think that's appropriate," Gov. Charlie Baker told reporters Wednesday after Nangle relinquished his title as second division chair in the House, and with it a $30,000 bonus on top of his $66,257 base salary as a legislator, and, in an email to the House Clerk, removed himself from his assignments." - "Bish cold case an inspiration for bill to expand DNA use," by Katie Lannan, State House News Service: "A state senator from central Massachusetts hopes a bill she recently filed will give police a new tool to investigate long-unsolved violent crimes. Senator Anne Gobi's bill would require the director of the state crime laboratory to develop regulations to allow familial DNA searching — seeking out a partial match to DNA found at a crime scene, with the goal of narrowing the hunt for a suspect by identifying a relative— in certain unsolved cases involving homicides, burglary and violent felonies." - "GreenWorks Bill's Long Senate Siesta Coming to End," by Michael P. Norton, State House News Service: "The House is newly in receipt of an ambitious Senate-passed carbon pricing bill and now a House-approved bill addressing the impacts of climate change is stirring to life in the Senate. The Senate Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets Committee plans a public hearing Tuesday afternoon on a $1 billion GreenWorks proposal to finance climate change infrastructure and resiliency grants. The borrowing bill has been resting before that panel since it cleared the House last July."

FROM THE HUB

- "Boston harbor brings ashore a new enemy: Rising seas," by Steven Mufson, The Washington Post: "Famous for its role in America's war for independence, this city is now fighting the rising seas. Boston is raising streets, building berms and even requiring that new high-rise condominium developments on its harbor acquire "aqua fences" — portable metal barriers that can be dragged to the street and anchored to the pavement to deflect incoming waves. Mayor Martin J. Walsh (D) has vowed to spend more than $30 million a year, equal to 10 percent of Boston's five-year capital budget, to defend the city from a watery future that is expected because of climate change." - "Local ICE Director Calls Tactical Border Agents In Boston A 'Force Multiplier,'" by Shannon Dooling, WBUR: "Federal immigration officials in Boston are releasing more details on what specially-trained U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents and officers will be doing in and around the city. The border officials were deployed to Boston to assist ICE agents with arresting undocumented immigrants that have criminal backgrounds, according to Todd Lyons, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Boston Field Office. Lyons points to so-called sanctuary city policies, including Boston's Trust Act and a 2017 Supreme Judicial Court decision, when justifying the need for reinforcements from the border agency." - "Caroline Kennedy quits advisory board at Harvard school named after her father, John F. Kennedy," by Valerie Strauss, The Washington Post: "Caroline Kennedy, former U.S. ambassador to Japan and daughter of President John F. Kennedy, has resigned unexpectedly as honorary chair of the advisory board of an institute at Harvard University's Kennedy School. The school confirmed the resignation Wednesday. The John F. Kennedy School of Government issued a statement commending Kennedy for her service on the Senior Advisory Committee of the Institute of Politics, saying, "Caroline's role at the Institute of Politics will always be prized and remembered." - "New Year, New Name: Nubian Square Is Making Room for Change," by Sofia Rivera, Boston Magazine: "When I plug my destination into Google Maps on the first sunny winter day all week to check how long until my bus will arrive, it's impossible to resist stretching my fingers across the screen of my phone and zooming in to see the new name that now hovers over a central stretch of Roxbury: Nubian Square. Pale gray letters stake their claim in all caps, lending the Google stamp of approval to a more than five-year community effort to rename the erstwhile Dudley Square." - "Ratings agency warns Simmons about debt," by Deirdre Fernandes, Boston Globe: "A key rating agency has warned Simmons University about its financial outlook as the Fenway school embarks on ambitious construction projects and prepares to change leaders. Moody's Investors Service revised its outlook for Simmons from stable to negative, a signal that the university's bond rating could be downgraded if financial pressures worsen in the next year and half. A decline from its current Baa1 rating could raise borrowing costs for Simmons, which is fighting to attract students in an increasingly competitive market."

- "BPS officials detail new funds, parents list cuts," by Yawu Miller, Bay State Banner: "Boston Public Schools officials outlined the plusses of the proposed 2021 BPS budget during a School Committee hearing held at the Curley School in Jamaica Plain last week. The budget includes funding for 64 additional teaching positions, including arts, music and physical education; 94 additional paraprofessional positions to facilitate the expansion of so-called inclusion classrooms, where students with disabilities are educated alongside those without; and funding for 126 student support positions, including social workers, instructional facilitators and family liaisons." - "Medical community struggles with own opioid dilemma: How to heal the healers?" by Chiara Eisner, Boston Globe: "When Dr. Sylvester Sviokla speaks to physicians at Harvard about the dangers of opioid addiction, they pay attention. He is in recovery from addiction himself. "I went to Harvard College, Harvard Medical School, I played football, I was a big doctor," he relates, before adding: "If it could happen to me, it can happen to you." Medical professionals are far from immune to opioid misuse. In fact, due to their easy access to pain medication and the high stress levels that come with treating patients, they may be especially susceptible." PRIMARY SOURCES - FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Slate of Newton Elected Officials Endorse Becky Grossman's Campaign for Congress," from the Grossman campaign: "Today, Becky Grossman's campaign announced that four of her colleagues on the Newton City Council and a member of the Newton School Committee are endorsing her campaign for Congress. Grossman's endorsers include: City Councilor David Kalis, City Councilor Lisle Baker, City Councilor Josh Krintzman, City Councilor and former Council President Marc Laredo, and School Committee Member Kathy Shields. Their endorsements come on the heels of two prominent Newton leaders, State Representatives Kay Khan and Ruth Balser, throwing their support behind Grossman's bid to replace Joe Kennedy in the 4th Congressional District." - FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: HONAN CHALLENGER UNVEILS TRANSIT PLAN — Jordan Meehan, the activist and lawyer running to unseat Democratic state Rep. Kevin Honan, is rolling out a new transit policy platform today. Meehan calls for making public transit free, raising new revenue to improve the transportation system, and improving service on the Green Line and buses in Allston-Brighton, among other proposals. The plan. - "PAC tied to Baker jumps into GOP primaries," by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: "A SUPER PAC with ties to Gov. Charlie Baker is supporting two Republicans running against other Republicans in special legislative primaries on March 3. The Massachusetts Majority super PAC reported it spent $9,350 on two separate mailings on February 10 and 18 in support of Jesse Brown of Plymouth, who is running against Bourne Republican James McMahon III for the Senate seat vacated by Republican Vinny deMacedo." ALL ABOARD - "What caused the Steamship Authority website's crash amid recent booking rush? Those pesky smartphones," by Matt Rocheleau, Boston Globe: "As travelers rushed last month to book coveted summer ferry reservations for Martha's Vineyard, the onslaught crashed the Steamship Authority's website like rough surf on South Beach. Now we know the culprit: a heavy barrage from pesky mobile phones, according to the agency. The authority said the smartphone traffic "taxed the Authority's web database servers and made it impossible for users to log in and make reservations." What's more, the head of the boat line, general manager Robert B. Davis, said the reports show that the technical problems could have been avoided, or at least significantly mitigated." DAY IN COURT - "DOC says prisoner suing agency assaulted officers," by Sarah Betancourt, CommonWealth Magazine: "THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION on Wednesday tried to turn the tables on a prisoner who alleged the agency violated his civil rights and assaulted him by accusing the inmate of attacking officers during a cell crackdown. The surprise accusation surfaced during the cross-examination of Robert Silva-Prentice, who along with two other prisoners is suing multiple Department of Correction officials at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, the state's maximum security prison in Shirley." - "Struggling homeowners sue nonprofit, allege predatory lending instead of mortgage help," by Scott O'Connell, Telegram & Gazette: "Several Central Massachusetts residents are part of a class action lawsuit accusing a Boston-based nonprofit of predatory lending practices that have saddled them with burdensome mortgages on their homes. The complaint, filed Friday in Suffolk County Superior Court, also claims BlueHub Capital deceived the plaintiffs in its explanation of those deals, which involved buying the client's home and selling it back with an ostensibly cheaper monthly mortgage payment." WARREN REPORT - "Warren leaves door open for super PAC spending," by Maggie Severns and Alex Thompson: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren's campaign denounced big money's growing role in the Democratic primary in a statement Wednesday — but stopped short of specifically calling for the shutdown of Persist PAC, a new pro-Warren super PAC, after the group popped up with a major ad campaign benefiting her. The new super PAC has reserved nearly $800,000 in TV and radio advertising so far in Nevada, according to Advertising Analytics, becoming the biggest outside advertiser in the state before Saturday's Democratic caucuses." - "Why Elizabeth Warren Got Dropped From A Poll Question About General Election Matchups," by Molly Hensley-Clancy, BuzzFeed News: "Elizabeth Warren was left out of a national poll question Tuesday that pitted Democratic candidates against Donald Trump, angering supporters who have protested that the media has erased her candidacy in the wake of her showings in Iowa and New Hampshire. The poll, from NBC and the Wall Street Journal, found Warren was effectively tied for second place nationally, with 14% of the vote. But pollsters excluded her from a series of matchups between Trump and top candidates." ABOVE THE FOLD — Herald: "IN PLAY, OUT OF PLAY," — Globe: "Family trip ends in horrific crash," "Democrats turn scrappy in bare-knuckled debate." THE LOCAL ANGLE - "Northland critics file new campaign finance complaint against Newton mayor," by John Hilliard, Boston Globe: "Ahead of a crucial vote on the largest mixed-use development in Newton's history, a local group of opponents is alleging that the city's mayor violated campaign finance law by seeking the state's help in trying to influence voters to support the project. The complaint, filed Tuesday with the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance, said that Mayor Ruthanne Fuller asked the state Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development to announce action on infrastructure projects near the site of Northland Investment Corp.'s planned mixed-use development in Newton Upper Falls." - LOL: "Not so smaht pahk: Quincy parking ticket revenue tops $2.6 million in 6 years," by Mary Whitfill, The Patriot Ledger: "If you've gotten a ticket for leaving your car too long in a one-hour Quincy Center parking spot — you're not alone. Over the last decade, the city has issued more than 150,000 parking tickets to those who overstayed their welcome on downtown streets, parked in a resident-only neighborhood near a T station or left their bumpers hanging into a parallel handicap spot. And since 2014, the latest year for which data is available, those tickets have totaled $2.6 million in revenue for the city." TRANSITIONS - Grace Munns is joining the NYC Department of Buildings as deputy press secretary. She previously worked in public relations at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Queens Museum. - Elisa Massimino is now a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, focusing on human rights. She most recently was a senior fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, and spent 27 years at Human Rights First. DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? Yes! The Bruins beat the Oilers 2-1. FOR YOUR COMMUTE: DEBATE NIGHT AND THE FEELING'S RIGHT - On this week's Horse Race podcast, hosts Jennifer Smith and Stephanie Murray break down the debate between Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Joe Kennedy III. Host Steve Koczela talks with state Sens. Cindy Friedman and Julian Cyr about the Senate's mental health legislation. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud. HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to WBZ's Tiffany Chan. Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you're promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.   Follow us on Twitter Stephanie Murray @StephMurr_Jour   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters Follow us

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Tens of billions

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s so-called “royalty relief” procedures often result in forgone royalty payments worth tens of billions of dollars. Royalty Relief Procedures Cost Taxpayers Tens of Billions This week, POGO Policy Analyst Tim Stretton testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies on “Increasing Accountability and Transparency for Oil and Gas Royalty Policy.” Offshore drilling and the lease of publicly owned tracts of seafloor together constitute a significant revenue stream for the federal government, bringing in nearly $90 billion between 2006 and 2018. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management administers offshore drilling rights and periodically holds auctions in which successful bidders obtain leases for tracts of the seafloor and rights to explore and drill for the underlying oil or gas deposits. But the bureau’s so-called “royalty relief” procedures often result in forgone royalty payments worth tens of billions of dollars. Watch the testimony or read his written remarks The “Most Abused” Freedom of Information Act Exemption Still Needs to Be Reined In Agencies stretch FOIA Exemption 5 to inappropriately cover records that may paint the agency in a bad light, records that reveal problems, and records that contain embarrassing information. Read more A Primer on Congressional Staff Clearances Access to classified information is important not just to aid Congress in addressing traditional national security concerns, such as military and intelligence matters, but also for election security and cyber threats. Read the report NEW: The Bunker Introducing: The Bunker After nearly 20 years of winless wars following 9/11, and a Pentagon budget that is well above the Cold War average, U.S. national security spending has never been a more target-rich environment. That is why the Project On Government Oversight’s Center for Defense Information has launched The Bunker, a precision-guided e-newsletter targeting your inbox most every week. Sign up now! Sign up for The Bunker POGO in the News     The Washington Post Secret Service has paid rates as high as $650 a night for rooms at Trump’s properties   Among them: Why were these payments to Trump’s clubs not listed in public databases of federal spending, such as usaspending.gov? The Secret Service has publicly listed many other transactions related to Trump’s stays at his clubs — rentals of golf carts, tents and portable toilets. But it has not listed any of these payments to Trump’s own businesses. “It is a surprise” that these payments are not listed, said Sean Moulton of the watchdog group Project on Government Oversight. Without public data about payments to Trump, he said, “the public doesn’t even know the questions they should be asking.”       Bloomberg Government Classified Access Opposed by McConnell Gets Renewed Senate Push   The staffers could help lawmakers challenge and hold accountable national security agencies in classified meetings, said Mandy Smithberger, director of the Center for Defense Information at the Project on Government Oversight. Some of the debates may focus on whether the information needed to be classified in the first place, for example when Trump administration officials recently said parts of former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s manuscript detailing actions that led to the withholding of Ukraine aid would be classified. [...] Staffers can help lawmakers engage in a back-and-forth with executive branch officials, but the executive branch and party leaders have little to gain by ceding power to rank-and-file members, Smithberger said in a phone interview. “The executive branch wants to hold on to as much information as they can, and information is power,” Smithberger said. “It’s part of a long-term trend where too much power is concentrated in leadership in the House and Senate. And as far as they’re concerned, their staffers have all the access that they need.” It would be helpful for lawmakers to have staffers with them in classified briefings such as the Jan. 8 meeting following Iranian attacks retaliating for the Soleimani strike, Smithberger said, so that members can “assess the veracity of that information” with the aid of an expert staff member. Murphy and eight other senators sent a letter in January asking Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire for a classified briefing on claims by Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Soleimani was planning imminent attacks on U.S. embassies. Rank-and-file members of the House are even worse off, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) said in a 2016 letter. While individual members of the Senate Intelligence panel are each given a designee, their counterparts on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence aren’t. Smithberger has previously advocated for each member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and House Armed Services Committee to have a staffer with SCI clearance. Smithberger said that amid increasing debates over the executive branch’s willingness to provide information to lawmakers, “you’re seeing more members wanting to stand up for Congress as an institution.”       Axios Senate acquits Trump   Justin Rood, director of the Congressional Oversight Initiative at the Project on Government Oversight, said the acquittal vote will "forcefully reduce Congress' power to its lowest point in modern history. And it virtually ensures it will stay there for a generation." "It will be a long, difficult, grueling fight for both chambers to regain powers they once had," said Rood, who worked as an investigator for former Republican Sen. Tom Coburn.

The Daily Beast Republicans Hate Surveillance on Trump but Sound Like They’ll Renew the PATRIOT Act   Jake Laperruque, of the Project on Government Oversight, said “concerns about the Carter Page FISA warrants” aided momentum for surveillance reform like the Wyden bill. “If the members talking about Crossfire Hurricane now want their complaints to be taken seriously,” Laperruque said, “this is the type of reform legislation they’ll need to support.”       Politico - Morning Defense Make Room In Your Inbox   Veteran Pentagon reporter and analyst Mark Thompson is launching The Bunker, a weekly newsletter published by the watchdog Project on Government Oversight that aims to keep the rest of us on our toes by training a skeptical eye on national security coverage. “I love the military, I’ve always loved the military, I loved going out with the troops,” Thompson tells us ahead of today’s launch. “But boy, someone has got to speak up when the emperor is wearing no uniform. If you look at a lot of news sites, especially trade-oriented, every morning there are four new wonder weapons. They are going to rewrite the laws of war. Rarely do they come to fruition but we are pumping an awful lot of money into them. You know, lasers are five years in the future and always will be.”       The Center for Public Integrity in partnership with the Texas Tribune Trump Plans to Collect DNAa from Nearly a Million Immigrant Detainees   “There is no reason to believe that asylum seekers or migrant families fleeing violence, persecution, or extreme poverty — many of whom voluntarily surrender to border patrol agents at the first opportunity — present any risk to public safety,” wrote the Project on Government Oversight, a watchdog group in Washington, D.C.       Government Executive House Passes Bipartisan Bill to Strengthen Presidential Transition Team Ethics Requirements   Sean Moulton, senior policy analyst for the Project on Government Oversight, told Government Executive in August, “POGO is particularly pleased with the requirement for a public ethics plan.” Even though “transition team members are not federal employees,” he said, “their close work with federal agencies, their access to non-public information and their role in structuring a new administration demand that clear ethical standards be set and maintained.”       Military Times The impeachment trial is over. Now can Congress get defense work done?   Open government advocates believe Trump’s clampdown on his administration’s cooperation with the impeachment investigation will mean less transparency. Recent weeks have seen intelligence officials refuse to appear for an annual hearing on worldwide threats for fear of contradicting the president. “I have grave concerns than an acquittal will be read by the executive branch as approval for stonewalling Congress’s constitutional oversight duties,” said Mandy Smithberger, of the Project on Government Oversight.       Federal Computer Weekly At hearing, IGs look to curb reprisals against whistleblowers   Much of the questioning from Republicans mirrored arguments from the Senate impeachment trial, focusing on the intelligence community whistleblower who brought the Ukraine allegations to light and the conduct of House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), one of the lead impeachment trial managers, and his staff. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) said he wondered what impact the controversy, and in particular Trump's remarks, would have on whistleblowers and federal employers who are considering reporting official misconduct, abuse or fraud. "I would say it has a chilling effect, especially in the intelligence community, where it’s already so hard to enforce legal protections,” Elizabeth Hempowicz of the Project on Government Oversight testified.       Anti-Corruption Digest ‘Disturbing Trend’ in Retaliation Against Whistleblowers   Elizabeth Hempowicz, the director of public policy for the Project on Government Oversight, told the committee that the current system for protecting whistleblower was in dire need of reform. “While inspectors general play an essential role in investigating whistleblower disclosures and retaliation, they are unable to enforce their recommendations for corrective action against the agency that retaliated against the whistleblower,” she said. “The last level of review in an intelligence community whistleblower’s case is a panel of three inspectors general from the intelligence community, referred to officially as an External Review Panel. However, those panels’ decisions are merely recommendations that the head of the whistleblower’s agency can disregard without consequence. Leaving the enforcement of whistleblower protection laws to the agencies responsible for retaliation renders those protections all but meaningless.”       Cato Institute All War Is Darkness   Natalie Dowzicky: All of our service members have a wealth of practical knowledge but in many instances, their pleas fall on the deaf ears of Congress. In fact, at the time of the Vietnam War, three-quarters of the members in Congress were former service members. That ratio has quickly dwindled to 18% for the current Congress. Dan Grazier, was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, he now serves as the Jack Shanahan Military Fellow at the Project On Government Oversight, also known as POGO. Like many veterans, Grazier believe what he did in Iraq was right in making an actual difference. However, six years later, when he landed in Afghanistan, his outlook drastically changed. POGO's Dan Grazier: We were just swatting flies where we could and we weren’t really doing much and at that point, I really believed that any good that we had accomplished in Afghanistan, happened 12 years earlier, in 2001. The war on Afghanistan should have been over in December of 2001, basically and so why we were still there was a big mystery and it was a conundrum, I’ll say it that way. I knew why we were there, we were there because we were told to be there. Mostly because no one had the guts to say, “Look, we can’t accomplish anything else.” Nobody here in Washington wanted to be responsible for pulling us out. POGO's Dan Grazier: The military, it should be prepared to fight the kind of wars that we… To face the kind of threats that we actually face but that’s it, it should be a break glass in time of war tool. It should mostly reside here in the United States and prepare to fight the threats that we actually face. We shouldn’t be scattered all over. The military shouldn’t be scattered all over the world the way it is, it should be a force-in-being should the need arise. Listen to the full podcast       Half Moon Bay Review Sheriff’s Office will use drones by spring   While use of the technology is exploding, some privacy experts and civil liberties advocates warn to be cautious of routine aerial surveillance and worry law enforcement may look to expand the use of their drone programs. “There are a bunch of privacy risks that come from drones, which stem from the fact that the cameras are very good and can home in on and take precise images from a far distance,” said Jake Laperruque, senior counsel at the Constitution Project. The Constitution Project is concerned with threats to civil liberties. Laperruque said these advances in technology go beyond typical policing tools. He also cautioned against allowing law enforcement agencies to draft their own policies regarding drones. “From a privacy standpoint, people should worry,” he said. “Something like surveillance technology, you do not want self-regulation by the entities conducting the policing. You want an independent party, like the legislature or the courts, to set rules they will be subject to and cannot change on a whim.”       Whistleblower Protection Blog Whistleblower advocates have more to say following House hearing   Finally, Liz Hempowicz of the Project on Government Oversight has been on Twitter talking about her back and forth with Ohio Republican Jim Jordan. She argues that motive does not matters when evaluating whether a whistleblower’s information is legitimate. Some members of Congress have called for the unmasking of the Ukraine whistleblower, who they say may be biased against the president.

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