NSA Surveillance Program: PROMIS

Cold Open: We're reading from the 1993 Report by Judge Nicholas J. Bua, released by the Office of the Attorney General in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. This report concerns the INSLAW/PROMIS matter, a surveillance program allegedly developed by the National Security Agency. The document is available on The Black Vault's website and the canonical PDF can be found on their server. Provenance: The report was released on September 30, 2013, as part of the Office of the Attorney General's response to a FOIA request dated October 13, 2012. The request was assigned the case number AG/13-00675 and the response was made on behalf of the Office of the Attorney General. The report was determined to be appropriate for release with excisions made pursuant to Exemption 3 of the FOIA, which pertains to information exempted from release by statute. The Document: REPORT OF SPECIAL COUNSEL NICHOLAS J. BUA TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES REGARDING THE ALLEGATIONS OF INSLAW, INC. NICHOLAS J. BUA HELENE B. GREENWALD JOSEPH H. HARTZLER CHARLES D. KNIGHT DEAN J. POLALES DAVID S. ROSENBLOOM THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REVISED IN ORDER TO DELETE MATERIAL THE DISCLOSURE OF WHICH IS PROHIBITED PURSUANT TO RULE 6(e) OF THE FEDERAL RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE MARCH 1993 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION II. THE HISTORY OF INSLAW'S ALLEGATIONS A. The Brewer Bias Theory B. The conspiracy Allegations C. Additional Allegations III. SUMMARY OF OUR CONCLUSIONS IV. THE DEVELOPMENT OF INSLAW'S CLAIMED PROPRIETARY SOFTWARE A. History of Inslaw B. Negotiation of the 1982 Implementation contract C. Early Proprietary Rights Disputes D. The Advance Payments Dispute E. The Events Leading Up To Modification 12 F. Inslaw's Efforts to Identify the Proprietary Enhancements G. The Effect of The Bankruptcy court's Findings V. THE ALLEGATION OF A CONSPIRACY TO STEAL PROMIS A. The Claimed Direct Evidence Of A conspiracy 1. Michael Riconosciuto a. summary of Riconosciuto's Allegations (i) Riconosciuto's Calls To The Hamiltons (ii) Riconosciuto's March 21, 1991 Affidavit (iii) Riconosciuto's statement to congress (iv) Riconosciuto's Testimony At His Trial b. The Inconsistencies Within The Allegations c. Results Of Our Investigation (i) The wackenhut-cabazon Joint venture (ii) The September 10, 1981 weapons Derronstration (iii) Riconosciuto's March 29, 1991 Page 2. Ari Ben-Menashe a. Ben-Menashe's Previous Allegations b. Our Investigation 3. Charles Hayes 4. The Claimed Circumstantial Evidence Of A conspiracy 1. The Alleged Call From Dominic Laiti 2. The 1983 Laiti Trip To New York a. Earl Brian b. Dominic Laiti c. Paul Wormeli d. Marilyn Titus e. Mark Kesselman 3. The 53rd Street Ventures Connection a. Daniel Tessler b. Richard D'Amore c. Patricia Cloherty 4. The Jonathan Ben Cnaan Allegations 5. The Edward Hurley Overtures 6. The Accumenics Contract Award 7. The Alleged Videnieks/Hadron Connection 8. The Attempted Purchase of Inslaw By SCT 9. The Lois Battistoni Allegations a. Lois Battistoni b. Charles Trombetta c. Garnett Taylor d. James Walker e. Floyd Bankson 10. Ronald LeGrand Conclusion Regarding The Alleged Earl Brian connection Context: The report was written by Judge Nicholas J. Bua and his team, who investigated the allegations of INSLAW, Inc. regarding the development and use of the PROMIS software. The report concludes that there is no evidence to support the allegations of a conspiracy to steal PROMIS. Outro: This is what the public record looks like at its most ordinary. We've read the 1993 Report by Judge Nicholas J. Bua, released by the Office of the Attorney General in response to a FOIA request. The document is available on The Black Vault's website and the canonical PDF can be found on their server. storyflo.com, https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/nsa/DOJ-OIP-INSLAW_1993.pdf