What did the declassified documents reveal?

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…

Why was this case declassified?

This material entered the public record through the U.S. declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process.

Case · DAILY-052

NSA Surveillance Program: PROMIS

JUL 6 · 2026Narrated by daily-declassified-nsa-surveillance-program-promis5 minLast updated July 6, 2026

The short version

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.

Date: JUL 6 · 2026
Release: Declassified · U.S. public record (FOIA)

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What was NSA Surveillance Program: PROMIS about?: 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.
Why was this case declassified?: This material entered the public record through the U.S. declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. Storyflo narrates it directly from the public release.

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