Thomas Fingar on the Politics of NIE/NIAs
Thomas Fingar gives some background on the 2002 Iraq NIE, the 2007 Climate Change NIA, and the 2007 Iran NIE.
Bart Stupak's C-Street Sepsis
As you reflect on the horrible vote that traded reproductive choice for health care, remember that the champion of that vote is one of C Street's top Democratic members.
Trashed: Formula One No Longer Made In Japan
As you all might know, we here at Emptywheel are car people. And one annoying thread ran common as a persistent undercurrent through all of our auto and auto bailout coverage over the last year, and that was how pitiful and incompetent the…
Obama DOJ Continues To FlimFlam Judge Lamberth On State Secrets
The state secrets doctrine was born on the wings of fraud and lies by the US government in the case of US v. Reynolds in 1953. As Congress struggles to rein in the unbridled use of the doctrine to cover up illegality by the Executive Branch…
Cheney Now Remembers CIA-Related Information!!
At first, I was surprised when reading about Cheney's apparently good recall about the orders he gave the CIA seven years ago, given how forgetful he was about having ordered Scooter Libby to leak Valerie Plame's identity. But when I looked closer, it became clear that he was just as forgetful about torture as he was about outing Valerie Plame.
Donate to First Draft So Athenae Can Continue to Call Out Bad Reporting
Go donate to First Draft so Athenae can write more righteous rants against bad reporting.
State Secrets Bill Passes House Judiciary, 18-12
The House Judiciary just passed Jerry Nadler's bill reining in state secrets abuse by a vote of 18-12, with Adam Schiff as the sole Democrat voting against the bill. One thing Nadler has added to his bill since it was first introduced are measures…
PATRIOT and State Secrets Mark-Up, 2.1
We're back, waiting to get a quorum. Watch along here.
Schiff: Strike ordinary pen register and trap and trace changes. Follow-up to Rooney amendment, potential unintended consequences on changing trap and trace. Avoid unintended consequences.
Smith:…
PATRIOT and State Secrets Mark-Up, Day Two
Liveblog from today's HJC hearing on PATRIOT reauthorization and State Secrets.
Condi's Response to Tenet's Request for a Review of Torture
More details revealed about the tension between CIA and the Department of Justice during June 2004.
PATRIOTs and Secrets Hearing, Day One Wrap Up
The Democrats in the House Judiciary Committee sure looked more like Democrats in Wednesday's PATRIOT Act hearing than most Democrats on the Senate side.
PATRIOTS and State Secrets Mark-Up Two
Follow along at home here.
Dan Lungren: NSL minimization. Deals with section of bill bc they did it on the Senate side. Strikes 2008 which calls for establishment of minimization procedures obtained pursuant to NSLs. If there are tangible problems…
Christie Starts Paying Off His Campaign Debts
Wasting no time in paying off Ralph Marra for politicizing a bust of a bunch of Democrats this summer, Chris Christie has already indicated he will name Marra to be his Attorney General. (h/t Main Justice)
Knowledgeable Republican sources…
PATRIOTs and State Secrets Live Blog
Go here to watch the live stream of the House Judiciary Committee mark-up of the PATRIOT Act renewal and a new bill on State Secrets. Right now they're in a quorum call, with very few Dems present. (16 members present--I guess no one much cares…
Break with the Bankers
If you put Eliot Spitzer and Digby together, I think you get one of the best reads on yesterday's election: it's time to focus on breaking up the banks.
Buying Off Victims of Illegal Wiretapping at $3 Million a Pop...
The government has agreed to pay Richard Horn--who was illegally wiretapped when working as a DEA agent in Burma--$3 million to settle his suit.
Does Cheney's CYA Document Include False Justifications for Torture?
Comparing the versions of the Cheney CYA document suggests that the version Cheney wanted was targeted towards those who wanted to sustain the torture program.
Election Day: The Dead, Dead Tree Ballot Proposal
We've got a proposal seeking to overturn the dead tree requirements on the city's public notice law.
Justice Denied: Voices from Gitmo
ACLU just put together a video of some of the detainees who mistakenly ended up at Gitmo. The whole video is quite good--but these two lines should be read by all Americans.
Moazzam Begg: My experience of America prior to this was everything…