To be accurate, only a few antiques still actually use a phone for these
calls , most are on ProtonMail or the like.
Has it occurred that congressional leaks are the way classified
organizations get news out?
Bill
On Thu, Jan 11, 2018 at 4:04 PM Paul Mueller <paul.mueller.iii@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
If the NRO briefed Congressional members and staff (presumably the
Intelligence Committees and not the entire Congress, and the briefing was
classified), and these members and staff ran to their phones to leak
classified information on the success or failure of the launch, then that
scares the hell out of me. Does anybody care about national security any
more? I'm being rhetorical, of course a lot of people do, including SpaceX
and Northrop Grumman. I guess I should hope that the "sources" didn't have
their facts right, or even better, spread deliberate misinformation to keep
our adversaries guessing.
As far as I'm concerned, I don't know anything about the mission and
haven't reached any conclusions about whether it failed or not. And that's
the way it should be!
On Thu, Jan 11, 2018 at 3:29 PM, Nick Horton <nwhorton@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I just hadn't actually seen such a congressional source cited anywhere,
even anonymously. The Ars article shared here cites no such source, for
example (only an uncited tweet). The NYT article I personally referenced
has essentially the same sources (
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/09/science/spacex-zuma-satellite.html)
That NYT article does however link to a Bloomberg article that cites
anonymous congressional aides stating that the satellite was lost as Bill
indicated. Although the article is also quick to concede that those
unconfirmed statements were "muddied" by other assertions from SpaceX:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-09/spacex-launched-satellite-isn-t-seen-in-orbit-pentagon-says
.
*"SpaceX’s review so far indicates that “no design, operational or other
changes are needed,” Shotwell said. The company doesn’t anticipate any
impact on its upcoming launch schedule, including a Falcon 9 mission in
three weeks.*
*SpaceX’s statement muddied assertions of a failure in the second stage
of the Falcon 9, as a U.S. official and two congressional aides familiar
with the launch had said. The satellite was lost, said one of the aides,
who asked not to be named because the matter is private. The other aide
said both the satellite and second-stage rocket fell into the ocean."*
So, yes, I suppose puts the matter to rest.......to the extent one is
willing to accept sources like this as truth.
On Thu, Jan 11, 2018 at 4:00 PM William Claybaugh <wclaybaugh2@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Ok, you are certainly free to believe that multiple independent sources
all independently invented the same story if you so choose; that is not a
conversation for this forum nor of any interest to me.
Nonetheless, the NRO did brief the Hill and Members and staff did then
run to their phones. It is even possible to estimate—based on my previous
experience—and based on when the press began reporting the payload was
lost, when the NRO briefing to the Hill occurred.
But you are certainly free to believe it is all made up....
Bill
On Thu, Jan 11, 2018 at 2:46 PM Paul Mueller <paul.mueller.iii@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Yes, really
On Thu, Jan 11, 2018 at 2:23 PM, William Claybaugh <
wclaybaugh2@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Paul:
Really?
You think the Times and the Post used multiple independent sources all
of whom made up the same story?
Am I correct in guessing that you haven’t much worked with the
national press or with members of Congress and staff?
Bill
On Thu, Jan 11, 2018 at 1:42 PM Paul Mueller <
paul.mueller.iii@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
What, that "congressional sources" and "congressional staffers" can
shoot their mouths off without knowing the facts, especially if it's off
the record?
On Thu, Jan 11, 2018 at 11:15 AM, William Claybaugh <
wclaybaugh2@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The initial news reports that the payload was lost cited
“congressional sources” and “congressional staffers”, respectively.
The rest is obvious.
Bill
On Thu, Jan 11, 2018 at 10:26 AM David Spain <
david.l.spain@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On 1/11/2018 10:56 AM, Nick Horton wrote:
I was under the impression that the whole reason this is evenbeing
discussed is that there is no official statement on the payloadfrom 3rd
status, from the NRO or otherwise.
Apologies if I missed this official statement from the NRO to
Congress, but I've only seen tentative/speculative statements
parties that the payload was lost, with all official statementsbeing
that its status is classified.lost.
On Thu, Jan 11, 2018 at 9:05 AM William Claybaugh
<wclaybaugh2@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:wclaybaugh2@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
The NRO did not lie to Congress when it reported the payload
To so do is career terminal for those involved and verydamaging
to the organization’s future budgets.only
There isn’t anything more to it; speculation about NRO lying
reveals aspects of the character of those engaged by suchspeculation.
Bill
Same here. News to me as well.
Dave
