[shostack]

>Is this whole category of law a place where the DoJ has intercepted enough sketchy conversations that they've got leverage against key Senators and Reps?

That's all I can think of too after reading Daniel Suarez' "Influx." With the resources and information at their disposal I would not put it past them to take this approach.

That raises the question of how we can change the system if we have to assume some sort of blackmail like that might be taking place. Is there a workaround?

[bediger4000]

Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez obtained this sort of leverage against Representative Jane Harman: http://www.salon.com/2009/04/20/harman/

I was amazed that this story had such short legs. It seems like a big deal to me, a really big deal.

[shostack]

Now just think about how something like the recent government hack[1] would play out on a wider scale.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/06/24/hackers-sto...