Torture Appropriations
The discrepancy over whether an appropriations staffer attended a particular briefing or not may be no big deal. Or it may be a very big deal.
The CIA's Comedy of Briefing List Errors
CIA has made errors on at least six different briefings, there are at least two briefings for which some of the attendees contest the CIA's version, and CIA claims to be unable to provide full details on seven other briefings. No wonder Leon Panetta continues to say that "it is up to Congress to evaluate all the evidence and reach its own conclusions about what happened." The CIA's own version of when it briefed and whom is riddled with errors.
David Obey: Yet More Proof the CIA Briefing List Is Totally Wrong
According to House Appropriations Chair David Obey, the CIA interrogation list records a Democratic Appropriations staffer attending a September 19, 2006 torture briefing, when all the staffer did was walk John Murtha and Bill Young to the briefing, but was turned away at the briefing.
In light of current controversy about CIA briefing practices, I was surprised to learn that the agency erroneously listed an appropriations staffer as being in a
Pincus and CIA Panic
Walter Pincus writes a story confirming the argument I made on Saturday about the purpose of Panetta's statement to the CIA.
If the Detainee Dies, Doing Sleep Deprivation Is Wrong
One of the most shocking quotes from the Senate Armed Services torture report came from Jonathan Fredman, then the Counsel for CounterTerrorism Center at CIA, now working for the Director of National Intelligence, told some interrogators at Gitmo, "It is basically subject to perception. If the detainee dies you're doing
it wrong." Fredman is reported to have said that on October 2, 2002.
Details on the New Fuel Efficiency Standards
Details on the Administrations new fuel efficiency standards.
The Advantages and Pitfalls of Auto Bailouts
Obama announced aggressive new CAFE standards today. But the price of that--I suspect--is the importation of Chinese assembled cars.
Bob Graham: It Was OCA, with the Briefing, in the Hart Senate Building
Bob Graham says OCA, not CTC, conducted his one "torture" briefing. He also said the location of the brieing--in the Hart Senate Office Building and not the White House--shows that the briefing was not highly classified.
Liz Cheney's Non-Denial #2: Daddy Suggested--But CIA Refused to Execute--Waterboarding
A few weeks ago, Liz "BabyDick" Cheney refused to deny that her Daddy was the "prime mover" on torture. Yesterday, she refused to deny that he had requested waterboarding be used with an Iraqi to drum up al Qaeda-Iraq ties.
WaPo's Partisan Press Release Service
The WaPo is apparently in the business of reprinting ignorant challenges without any fact-check or context.
The Data Mining Secrets and al-Haramain
There's a footnote in the latest al-Haramain ruling that suggests they're trying to cordon off the data mining aspects of the program so as to limit litigation moving forward (and disclosure to al-Haramain) to the actual wiretapping part of the program.
The Latest al-Haramain Filing
Guess what? Al-Haramain and the government are continuing to argue over what information al-Haramain gets to sue the government for illegally wiretapping it.
A Dick Cheney Torture Trifecta!
Anyone else feel like we're watching the Scooter Libby trial again, what with all of Dick Cheney's hacks out protecting him?
You Can't Spell "Walter Pincus" without C, I, and A
Walter Pincus gave two spooks anonymity to claim that CIA didn't waterboard KSM and Abu Zubaydah to trump up ties between al Qaeda and Iraq. But those two anonymous sources fall fall short of credibility, and even faller short of denying that torture was used to elicit such ties.
The Two Torture Tape Suspects, the Pelosi Briefing, and the Panetta Statement
A lot of people are nervous about Panetta's statement in response to Pelosi's accusation that CIA lied. It makes a lot more sense when you consider it against the background of the torture tape destruction.
The Terrorism Intelligence and the Briefing Schedule
I suggested yesterday that one of the explanations for the CIA's unreliable record of briefings on torture and terrorism in 2002 and 2003 might reflect an attempt to hide certain information.
Did CIA not reveal they were torturing detainees to dodge any question about the accuracy of claims about Iraq intelligence?
While we don't know the full schedule of briefings on Iraq intelligence, the schedule of intelligence documents pertaining to Iraqi ties
Dick Cheney, Torture, Iraq, and Valerie Plame
I've been reluctant to embrace suggestions that torture, iraq, and Valerie Plame were all going to coalesce into one linked story. But it is increasingly looking like that may be the case.
Fox Reports Absence of Presidential Finding, Clear Violation of Law, Yawns
Fox gets into the irresponsible reporting act now, presenting clear evidence of legal wrong-doing as yet another gotcha of Nancy Pelosi.
Crazy Pete Hoekstra Flip-Flops on Congressional Notification
Crazy Pete Hoekstra wrote a very good description, in 2006, about how serious is the obligation to inform Congress of CIA's activities. He seems to have forgotten that description now.
Graham: They Claimed to Have Briefed Before Torture, Did Not
I've got to correct something I said yesterday about Bob Graham. I reported that Graham said that CIA had given him two erroneous dates for briefings. They gave erroneous dates for three briefings.