The Wiretap Jury on the Iran War
At a moment when the Obama Administration is still aggresively pursuing James Risen's testimony on sources for an Iran story he wrote 7 years ago, on Saturday he published a new story summarizing the uncertainty surround intelligence on Iran…
Spooky AssadLeaks: The Provenance of the Emails
As I wrote in this post, I got interested in the provenance of a set of leaked Bashar al-Assad emails largely because of the way in which two of them were used to suggest, dubiously, Nir Rosen was an Assad agent.
The Guardian and Al Arabiya…
Spooky AssadLeaks: The Nir Rosen Connection
Something curious has happened in the last few days while I've been traveling. The Guardian and Al Arabiya have been publishing leaked emails from Bashar al-Assad and his wife, showing both to be callous assholes but not otherwise producing…
Real Fast & Legitimate Trash Talk!
I feel confident you were all as traumatized as I was by the counterfeit Trash Talk appearing recently on these hallowed threads! Apparently, simply because this blog is named "Emptywheel", people named Emptywheel think they can just stroll…
The Secret PATRIOT FOIA
To cap off Sunshine week, there was a slew of FOIA news today. For now, I'm just going to look at the response the ACLU got on its request for "OLC legal opinions and memoranda concerning or interpreting Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act."
Josh…
The Other Drinking Soldiers
In his post on our clearance for payments to Egypt, Jim noted that the key graph came 13 paragraphs into an 18 paragraph story.
Likewise, the key graph from the NYT story letting a senior American official lay out a narrative blaming the…
For Obama Administration, Human Rights in Egypt Less Important Than Payments to Arms Manufacturers
Obscured somewhat by the latest revelations and speculations on the US soldier who killed 16 Afghan civilians on Sunday, today's New York Times carries an article on page A6 of the print edition informing us that the Obama administration is…
Are Presidents Who Cover Up Crimes Murderous Sociopaths?
Kevin Drum and Adam Serwer are having a MoJo fight over how to respond to the news that Obama intervened to keep journalist Abdulelah Haider Shaye imprisoned. Drum started the debate by asking what I consider a straw man argument: Is President…
Karzai, Taliban Begin Angling for Afghanistan Dominance, Confirming Failure of US Mission
The Ides of March has not been kind to the US mission in Afghanistan. Despite Barack Obama and David Cameron putting their best spin on the situation yesterday and claiming that NATO's withdrawal from Afghanistan will not be accelerated by the…
The Full Text of the Schuelke Report on DOJ Misconduct
Earlier this morning, we posted A Primer On Why Schuelke Report Of DOJ Misconduct Is Important that laid out all the legal and procedural background underlying the Schuelke Report into prosecutorial misconduct in the Ted Stevens criminal case.
The…
A Primer On Why Schuelke Report Of DOJ Misconduct Is Important
Yesterday morning, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals entered its per curiam order denying a DOJ prosecutor's motion for stay of the release of the Schuelke Report on prosecutorial misconduct in the Ted Stevens criminal case. As a result,…
While Celebrating "Special Relationship," Cameron's Government Pushes for Secret Law
David Cameron is in town.
Which means, amid much pomp and circumstance (and jokes about the Brits burning DC in 1812), the leader of Britain and the leader of the US will reaffirm the "special relationship."
Meanwhile, across the pond,…
Albright Rushes to CNN With New Satellite Imagery Claims on Parchin After Debunking
Yesterday, in a post titled Rumored Satellite Imagery of Parchin “Clean-Up” Fails to Materialize, Claim Debunked, I pointed out both Gareth Porter's debunking of the "Parchin is being cleaned up" claim and added further evidence against…
BAE F-35 Hack Confirmed
I've long complained that the government's obsession with WikiLeaks is badly misplaced. After all, DOD and some of its contractors simply can't keep their networks secure from Chinese hackers. So if our chief rival can take what it wants, why…
As Government Releases Evidence of Systemic Mortgage Fraud, FBI Focuses on Distressed Homeowner Fraud
The Administration finally released the HUD Inspector General Reports that consist of the only investigation of foreclosure fraud conducted as part of the foreclosure settlement.
I'll probably have more to say about the reports tomorrow.…
DOD Preparing to Admit Afghan Massacre Soldier Was Drunk
DOD appears to be preparing to admit one of two critical details Afghan witnesses to this weekend's massacre have maintained from the start: that the shooter(s) was drunk (villager witnesses also said more than one soldier was involved). At…
What Is Government Covering Up with the Imprisonment of Yemeni Journalist?
Jeremy Scahill has a disturbing story of how President Obama intervened to make sure Yemen kept journalist Abdulelah Haider Shaye imprisoned even after domestic pressure convinced then President Ali Abdullah Saleh to release him. [Note, I've…
Poll: Do Men Realize Birth Control Is Rarely Just for "Female Employees"?
Greg Sargent tweeted the results of this CBS/NYT poll, showing that 37% of those polled believe the whole birth control debate is about religious freedom. While Sargent thinks 37% is a small number, given that it means that maybe a quarter of…
Rumored Satellite Imagery of Parchin "Clean-Up" Fails to Materialize, Claim Debunked
Back on March 7, AP's Vienna correspondent George Jahn wrote that two diplomats, described as "nuclear experts accredited to the International Atomic Energy Agency" informed him that they had seen satellite imagery showing evidence of Iran trying…
Is This What Robert Mueller Meant by Cyber Expertise?
Back on February 3, I noted what I thought was the irony that, four days after FBI Director Robert Mueller bragged about FBI's cybersecurity expertise--including its partnerships with counterparts overseas--Anonymous released an earlier hacked…
