George Bush PERSONALLY Sent Card and Gonzales to Thug Up Ashcroft

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emptywheel
George Bush personally called Mrs. Ashcroft to tell her his thugs were coming over to rough up the Attorney General in the ICU Ward.
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Neither of Cheney's Illegal Programs Was Effective

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emptywheel
DOJ's IG on Cheney's warrantless wiretap program: DOJ OIG found it difficult to assess or quantify the overall effectiveness of the PSP program as it relates to the FBI's counterterrorism activities. However, based on the interviews conducted and documents reviewed, the DOJ OIG concluded that although PSP-derived information had value in some coutnerterrorism investigations, it generally played a limited role in the FBI's overall counterterrorism efforts.

Gonzales KNEW Ashcroft Was Too Sick to Reauthorize the Program--But Asked Him To Anyway

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emptywheel
Back when he was testifying before Congress, Alberto Gonzales played dumb about whether or not he knew John Ashcroft was too sick to sign the reauthorization for the warrantlesss wiretap program. But the IG Report makes it clear he was well aware Ashcroft couldn't sign it. On March 9, Gonzales admitted publicly that Ashcroft couldn't sign the reauthorization.

Working Thread on Warrantless Wiretapping IG Report

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emptywheel
Timed perfectly so al-Haramain can't use it in its latest brief. Though I imagine Judge Walker will read it closely. Here's the report. Consider this an working thread.

Why Is Hampton Embarrassing "the Family"?

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emptywheel
Why is Doug Hampton--John Ensign's cuckold--going to such lengths to embarrass "the Family."
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Was Porter Goss Briefed on Things Pelosi and Harman Weren't?

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emptywheel
Porter Goss was in early Iraq War meetings, alone among Congressmen. Was he also at other meetings that the Bush Administration points to to claim notification to Congress?
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Final Decision: The Dignity Of Judge Karen Williams

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bmaz
Federal judges live and serve in mostly quiet and unappreciated dignity. That is certainly the case with Fourth Circuit Judge Karen Williams.
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Stunning al-Haramain Filing Shames Obama; Shows Duplicity Of Officials

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bmaz
In early June, a critical hearing was held in front of Vaughn Walker in the al-Haramain case warrantless wiretapping case. Judge Walker entered an order commanding the attorney for plaintiffs al-Haramain et. al to file a motion for summary judgement. The motion has now been filed and it is literally damning to President Obama and his Administration.

David Kris: Our Only Military Commission Convictions May Be Illegal

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emptywheel
David Kris says that the charge that the only convictions we've gotten from military commissions thus far may be illegal.

Deep Thought

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emptywheel
Would Congress have spent the last eight years lying to Congress to hide Dick Cheney's torture chambers if Bill Clinton had not "looked forward" but instead pursued Iran-Contra fully?

"Certain Officers"

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emptywheel
The tennis match over how much the CIA lies to Congress continues.

Could Cheney's Lawyer's Leak Break through the Cloud over Cheney?

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emptywheel
The fact that Dick Cheney's lawyer has already leaked the contents of his interview with Fitzgerald utterly devastates the government's arguments for keeping his interview materials secret.

Silvestre Reyes: CIA Lied to Congress

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emptywheel
Silvestre Reyes says that CIA lied to Congress. But Crazy Pete Hoekstra wants to politicize that rather than deal with the lies themselves.

You Think Alberto Gonzales Knows There's Not a "Department of Law"?

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emptywheel
Alberto Gonzales to teach Texans how to protect Presidents from any legal consequences.

Palin Misrepresents Ethics Complaint Dismissal Record

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bmaz
Ever since the stunning decision to quit her elected office, and abandon her constituents, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska has been relentlessly repeating the line that she has been victorious in every ethics investigation against her. This ABC News report is typical:But she said a major factor in the decision was the mounting legal bills she and the state have had to incur to fight ethics charges from her political
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