By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of private e-mail has included a search to determine whether foreign intelligence services were able to access her server, Bloomberg reports. 

Agents are looking for digital traces of cyber-spying.

Despite the concerns, Clinton has downplayed the possibility that her e-mails were hacked, saying the private system had “numerous safeguards.”

But the FBI is not so quick to reach that conclusion and has given the case to cyber security experts.

Burning Man festival/via Wikipedia

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

New documents reveal that the FBI has monitored the annual Burning Man festival as tens of thousands of people gathered in the Nevada desert, Reuters reports. 

MuckRock.com acquired records that show agents joined artists, musicians and other revelers during the festival in 2010 and concluded that crowd control and illegal drugs were a big concern at the festival in northern Nevada.

The FBI wouldn’t comment on the records.

The records show that the bureau estimated that about 50,000 people turned out.

“The greatest known threat in this event is crowd control issues and use of illegal drugs by the participants,” said an FBI document on the festival posted to MuckRock.com.

Ibragim Todashev

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The FBI agent who fatally shot a friend of one of the Boston Marathon bombers had a troubled past, but a prosecutor said it had no impact on clearing the agent of wrongdoing, the Boston Globe reports. 

FBI Agent Aaron McFarlane said he shot Ibragim Todashev in Orlando out of self-defense.

Prosecutor Jeffrey Ashton agreed that McFarlane was trying to defend himself from an attack.

“I concur in his assessment that there is nothing contained in those disciplinary files which would change my previous assessment that the agent(s) involved used lawful deadly force in their encounter with” Todashev, Ashton said in the letter.

In the past, McFarlane has been accused of brutality at least twice and falsifying a police report and was the subject of four internal affairs investigation.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

In an attempt to get more oversight, the Justice Department said Thursday it will seek more judicial and internal supervision as it uses technology to track cellphones, the Wall Street Journal reports. 

In the past, technology was kept a secret, drawing criticism from privacy advocates, judges and lawmakers.

At issue are cell site simulators, which enables investigators to secretly scan phones.

Under the changes, supervisors would be required to more closely examine the use of the devices. Data collected on innocent Americans also would need to be deleted at least once a day.

Meth-laced candy, via Border Patrol

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Border Patrol has made an alarming discovery – candy laced with methamphetamine.

The Desert Sun reports that agents discovered several boxes of the candy at a checkpoint on Highway 86 near the Salton Sea.

Drug-sniffing dogs led agents to candy, which was inside a 2012 Nissan Frontier being driven by a 48-year-old man.

The tamarind candy, which was labeled in Spanish, tested positive for methamphetamine.

The DEA is now investigating.

Other Stories of Interest

• FBI Investigates Fatal Car Accident at Ute Reservation in Utah
• Former Clinton Aide Accused of Rebuffing FBI Investigation
• FBI Teams Up With Indianapolis Police to Target Violent Crime
• Lawyer for Palm Springs Mayor Expects ‘Swift Conclusion’ to FBI Probe
• TSA, Amtrak Boost Rail Security Ahead of Labor Day Weekend