Did Treasury Fire Jim Freis for Showing that Banksters Are a Bigger Problem than Terrorists?
As I noted earlier, a few weeks ago Treasury fired the head of FinCEN, Jim Freis. (FinCEN makes sure that financial institutions report whatever evidence of potential crimes they're seeing.)
American Banker reported that Treasury wanted "additional…
Will Treasury Hire the Guy Who Allowed JP Morgan Help Iran Launder Money?
Two weeks ago, Treasury fired the guy in charge of FinCEN (the part of Treasury that enforces and tracks Suspicious Activities Reports), Jim Freis, reportedly (pay wall) because he wanted to focus on law enforcement and financial crimes, rather…
The "Kill List" Is a Shiny Object
I recognize the term "Kill List" has some political advantages. It's a concise way to convey the cold brutality of our use of drones. Launching a petition for a Do Not Kill list--on the White House's own website!--is a clever use of social media.
But…
Jack Goldsmith to John Brennan: Not Good Enough
When he gave a speech to make misleading claims about the drone program, John Brennan claimed his speech fulfilled Jack Goldsmith's demand for more transparency.
Jack Goldsmith, a former assistant attorney general in the administration of George…
Parchin Game of Cat and Mouse Escalates: Razed Buildings, Earthmoving Probably Don't Affect Controversial Chamber
For a brief period yesterday afternoon, initial news reports had me thinking that perhaps proof had finally emerged that Iran has indeed carried out work on a nuclear weapon and was taking actions in an attempt to hide the after-effects of that…
What Happened to Mehsud's Dirty Bomb?
As I alluded the other day, the story the NYT told about the targeting of Baitullah Mehsud differs in key respects from the story Joby Warrick told in his book, The Triple Agent. And since the discrepancy involves yet another unsubstantiated…
The Commercial for John Brennan's Signature Strike Drone Shop TADS
Between them, the NYT and the Daily Beast published over 10,000 words on Obama's drone assassination program yesterday. Both stories rolled out the new acronym the Administration wants us to use: terrorist-attack-disruption strikes, or TADS.…
Day of Surprises in Afridi Case: Conviction Not Related to CIA Help; Ignatius Chastises CIA
There are many developments today surrounding Pakistan's sentencing of Dr. Shakeel Afridi to 33 years in prison, including two that are quite unexpected. According to documents released today to multiple news agencies, it turns out that Afridi's…
Hesham Abu Zubaydah Dates FBI Investigation of Mohammed Osman Mohamud a Year Earlier
The most recent hearing in the Mohammed Osman Mohamud case provided the following details, which the FBI claimed described the beginning of their investigation into Mohamud.
February 2009: Samir Khan and Mohamud start emailing
August 31,…
Angler 2.0: Brennan Wields His Puppet Strings Differently
As I said earlier, the parallel between the Jo Becker/Scott Shane Angler 2.0 story and the earlier series by Becker and Barton Gellman is hard to miss.
But I'm very interested in how the stories are structured differently. With Angler 1.0,…
John Brennan, Liar
Since Jo Becker co-wrote the Angler series in the WaPo with Barton Gellman, her long piece today with Scott Shane will be seen as the Obama version of that story: how he evades the law to pursue ruthless counterterrorism policies.
I'll have…
Brennan to Pakistan: The Beatings Drone Strikes Will Continue Until Morale Improves
There was yet another US drone strike in Pakistan today. According to Bill Roggio at Long War Journal, today's strike is the fourth strike in six days. After the first strike in this series, I posed the question of whether that strike was more…
WaPo Forgets the Scarequotes for the Word "Plot"
I'm agnostic about how many of the plots attributed to Iran in this WaPo story are real. Certainly, there are hints, even from Joby Warrick's sources, that the insinuation that "Iran and Hezbollah" are behind the attacks--which were reportedly…
On Chris Hayes & America's Fallen Heroes
I will admit I was watching the F1 Grand Prix de Monaco this morning and not Up With Chris Hayes on MSNBC. It turns out I missed some controversy. I was referred to the matter by Doug Mataconis of Outside the Beltway. Mataconis argued that…
US Let China Buy Treasuries Directly During Debt Ceiling Crisis
Reuters has a story on how the Treasury Department allowed China to start buying US Treasuries directly last June.
The documents viewed by Reuters show the U.S. Treasury Department has given the People's Bank of China a direct computer link…
Panetta: We Do Not Share Anything Inappropriate with Anybody ... Except Our Assets' Identities
When Leon Panetta confirmed that Shakeel Afridi was working with the CIA when he used a vaccination program to collect intelligence on Osama bin Laden, he likely made it much harder for Pakistan to release the doctor, or even give him a…
Bashar al-Assad, Gitmo Judge and Jury
As Steven Aftergood reported, Syrian Gitmo detainee Abdulhadi Omer Mahmoud Faraj has challenged the government's inane policy prohibiting detainee attorneys from refuting the claims made in Gitmo files. The motion argues that letting the claims…
The Government Can't Make Up Its Mind Whether WikiLeaks Amounts to Aiding Al Qaeda or Not
The government's arguments in Hedges v. Obama are getting more and more inconsistent.
This is the case, recall, where Chris Hedges, Birgitta Jonsdottir, and several other people challenged the section of the NDAA that affirmed the President's…
Either Torture Is Ongoing Or the Administration Is Hiding Something Else
I don't mean to be ungrateful that the NYT wrote an editorial about the 2nd Circuit's decision to help the CIA hide its torture documents from FOIA. I'm not! I'm glad they're noting how the courts are collaborating in hiding our government's…
The Assassination Czar's War Crimes Dodge: Revisiting John Brennan's Targeted Killing Speech
Now that John Brennan is in charge of selecting which patterns of behavior we should target with drones, it ought to be easy to charge him with war crimes. The at least eight civilians we killed in Jaar a number of weeks after Brennan seized…
