DPS sharing closely held intelligence info with media ally Stratfor

Some readers may recall that Wikileaks in 2012 released a cache of emails from Stratfor, an Austin-based private firm with close ties to law enforcement that makes its money publishing expensive online intelligence briefings. A friend forwarded me a link to all their emails related to Occupy Austin, which for the most part revealed more about the juvenile attitude of various Stratfor analysts than it did about Occupy, however critical Grits has been of that movement.

More interesting, searching the files on Texas DPS one discovers they have a close relationship with Stratfor, sharing internal intelligence reports that aren't disseminated to traditional media. Here's a link to those DPS-related emails.

In some cases, DPS prepared information for Stratfor directly while concealing the fact that it was doing so. Stratfor Vice President of Intelligence Fred Burton sent an email to an analyst at one point declaring, "DPS put this together for me so we have data sets on the scope of spill-over crime into Texas from Mexico. We can use the data, but cannot attribute to DPS." Asked how they could use the data, Burton replied, "As long as we don't compromise DPS or any of the specific agencies cited, we can utilize." Burton appears to be in close contact with DPS Col. Steve McCraw, calling him a "good friend," and has friends in the Texas Rangers providing him intel outside of formal channels. One email chain with DPS chief of staff Robert Bodisch found Burton seeking (apparently successfully) to place a young woman in an internship; in another, he sought employment for a retiring Marine captain and Bodisch said to have the man contact him directly.

After McCraw became head of DPS, he asked Burton to take a leave of absence from Stratfor in 2009 to help launch the agency's "Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division, a slot that Burton thought would be good for Stratfor's long-term business interests:

On the business side, I think this would be a wonderful opportunity to open doors into markets that would serve us very well. Frankly, the long-term intelligence liaisons alone are worth their weight in gold.  We have the door cracked into the national fusion centers now (as Darryl knows) and this would put it over the top. Steve asked if I would consider stepping in Sept 1st and the state would compensate me for the time away. My goal would be to set up their CT structure, then leave to let them run with the ball.

Burton appears to be quite a piece of work. After a lunch meeting with the governor of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, he wrote to his colleagues "Interestingly, the Gov had at least one armed shooter as muscle wearing a black tactical vest. The shooter kept giving me the evil eye, but I was packing heat and knew I could kill him if I had too [sic]." Yeah, right. In another email exchange he asked DPS Col. Steve McCraw if he could be made "some sort of Special Ranger." McCraw replied, "I am sure we can do honorary Texas Ranger. Let me check. Special Ranger requires TCLEOSE certification."

Burton's hope that his stint with DPS would result in special access to information apparently paid off.  At least during the period covered by the emails, DPS was giving Statfor access to Joint Operations and Intelligence Center briefings, daily summaries from Operation Border Star, BOLOs ("be on the look out" advisories), copies of DPS' weekly Border Operations Security Assessments, and internal updates from the DPS Intelligence and Counterterrorism Post Seizure Analysis Team. I didn't notice any representatives of Texas' regular mainstream media on the recipient lists, though Stratfor basically is just a specialized, high-dollar publishing outlet catering to corporations, government clients and rich folks. One wonders why, other than Burton's relationship with McCraw, they merit that sort of special treatment?

UPDATE: According to this Wired magazine article from August 2012, Burton also used his DPS connections to convince the agency to  install a surveillance tool called "Trapwire" for which Stratfor got a cut for referrals.