Article II or AUMF? "A High Level Official" (AKA John Brennan) Says CIA Can Murder You
I'm not sure whether Michael Isikoff decided to stamp his version of the white paper all over with "NBC News" to make sure we all knew who was the go-to for sanctioned leaks, or whether Dianne Feinstein and the Administration asked him to do…
CIA Director Petraeus' Traditional Military Operations
One of Brennan's answers to Additional Prehearing questions I didn't gloss the other day is this one:
Question 8: What are your views on what some have described as the increased "militarization" of the CIA mission following September 11, 2001…
Is One of the Anwar al-Awlaki Memos a Revised Imminence Standard?
I've been working on a theory on why the white paper is so crappy based, in part, on a problem international law experts keep making. For my purposes, Noura Erakat's description of the problem will suffice, but a ton of people have raised it.
Imminence…
When Bob Goodlatte Joins the Chorus Demanding the Memos...
To date, the push to release the targeted killing memos has come from a few civil libertarians in both parties -- Ron Wyden and his usual allies in the Senate, Jerry Nadler and a few allies on the House Judiciary Commitee, Mike Lee -- and Chuck…
Every Laptop and Cell Phone in Detroit (and Dearborn) Can Be Searched at Will
I'm not really sure how Detroit is supposed to pursue an arts-based resurgence if the Department of Homeland Security maintains that it can seize any electronics along the nation's borders -- which extend 100 miles and therefore include the…
Did Administration Stall Congressional Oversight Just to Beat ACLU in Court?
In an interview with WSJ last March, White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler said that publicly explaining the drone program would be "self-defeating."
White House Counsel Kathy Ruemmler acknowledged Mr. Obama has developed a broader view of executive…
Members of Congress Have Asked for the Targeted Killing Memos 14 15 18 Times 19 Times
With all the discussion of targeting killing memos, I thought it time to update my list of all the times members of Congress have asked for the memos. Note that the number still doesn't reflect all requests, as a number of these requests refer…
Patrick Leahy Is Confused
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair, Patrick Leahy appears to be confused.
Early in the week, Leahy was one of 11 Senators who signed Ron Wyden's letter demanding the Office of Legal Counsel targeted killing memos
After it was announced…
One of Just Four Overseers on Drone Targeting Believes First Amendment Protected Activities Merit Execution
While the Gang of Four do not have access to the CIA's kill list (and therefore did not know whether Samir Khan was on it before his death), they are the only people outside the Executive Branch who had, before today, seen the government's rationale…
John Brennan Decimates the Logic of Drone Program
John Brennan will be confirmed as CIA Director.
But along the way he has utterly decimated the drone program's legitimacy.
Twice in his confirmation hearing, he insisted he was not a lawyer. Most notably, Carl Levin went to some length…
How Can We Say John Brennan "Kept Us Safe"?
I was struck when I read this line in Dexter Filkin's article on John Brennan and drones:
None of the above is intended as an attack on Brennan, who has spent the past four years as President Obama’s counterterrorism advisor. He has a hard…
Iran Claims to Decode Imagery From Captured RQ-170 But Image Quality Sucks
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOrEADlkZfU[/youtube]
In the ongoing saga of whether or not Iran hacked our RQ-170 Sentinel drone to down it in December of 2011, Marcy has asked many questions. More recently, Iran announced last…
Five Questions for John Brennan
I'm sure I could grill John Brennan for hours. But after a lot of thought, here are the five questions I believe most important that should be asked of him Today.
1) Do you plan to continue lying to Americans?
You have made a number of…
John Brennan, Unplugged
As a special service to emptywheel readers, I am going to provide an abridged version of John Brennan's answers to Additional Prehearing Questions in advance of his confirmation hearing on Thursday.
Q1 Bullet 3: 7 CIA officers died in Khost…
Breaking: Most Journalists Mis-Report Release of OLC Memos
President Obama has finally -- after 2 years and 14 requests -- agreed to let the intelligence committees see the Office of Legal Counsel Memos that authorize the lethal targeting of US citizens.
Kudos to Ron Wyden for having the tenacity…
The Administration's Drafty Secrecy Claims
As I've noted a couple of times, both Jason Leopold and Scott Shane FOIAed the white paper someone strategically leaked to Mike Isikoff this week.
Leopold requested the white paper in August, shortly after Pat Leahy discussed it in a hearing.…
Crystal River Crack: The Moral Hazard of Private Utility Companies
About fourteen months ago, I wrote about the Florida Containment Dome Crackers who had the bright idea that they could save $15 million while refurbishing the steam generators at the Crystal River nuclear power plant in 2009. They wound up cracking…
Dianne Feinstein's Limited Hang-Out
Shorter Dianne Feinstein: "Well, the magical release of that white paper sure eliminates any need to release the Office of Legal Council memos that depict far worse legal theories, even to the grunt members of my committee who have are legally…
Riyadh Station Chief Operated Drone War from and for His Old Stomping Grounds
While the existence of a Saudi drone base has been reported before, the WaPo confirms tonight that the drone strike that took out Anwar al-Awlaki was launched, in part, from the base that no one has before liked to report on.
The only strike…
Secretary of State John Kerry, Our Newest "General" Leading Cambodia 2.0
Congratulations to John Kerry, who now has the job he has always wanted.
I do hope some enterprising journalist asks him about this, a key legal justification for the forever wherever war he is now a critical leader of.
The department…