The Guards Have Left the Country
The NYT has an interesting article telling the story of the Blackwater guards involved in the September 16 shooting. It does a great work getting the views of 6 current and former Blackwater guards in spite of the company's policy gagging them.
But there are two details, above all, that deserve more attention (particularly since the article simply presents them, without raising any questions about what they mean).
The United States of AT&T Wants Satellites Now, Too
Well, here's another reason AT&T is so desperate for retroactive immunity. It'd suck to have their bid to acquire a satellite TV company derailed as consumers realized AT&T is using that technology to spy on them, huh?
AT&T has been consulting lawyers in Washington about how long it would take to get government approval to purchase either EchoStar Communications Corp.
Condi Must Be Preparing a Dog and a Pony
There are a number of clues that reveal how panicked the State Department--and Condi and those parts of the Administration not trying to undercut Condi at every turn--is about the threats to Blackwater's continued presence in Iraq. For the first time as Secretary of State, Condi is making the rounds of Congressional committees, even deigning to visit her arch-nemesis Henry Waxman.
What Riley Said about Rove
Let's take a look at what Rob Riley had to say about Karl Rove's involvement in Don Siegelman's investigation and prosecution in his affidavit. In the midst of an affidavit full of "I don't remember" and "I don't recall," Riley says some very specific things about Rove.
The first mention comes toward the end of a very long, very hedged statement about the phone call on November 18, 2002.
Madame Secretary Finally Accepts an Invitation
Frankly, I've been holding my breath since I first saw this (tentatively) on Selise's weekly hearing schedule. After all, Waxman has been trying to get Condi Rice to appear before the Oversight Committee since early spring. But they've now announced the hearing, so I'm breathing again.
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hold a hearingentitled, “The State Department and the Iraq War†on Thursday morning,October 25, 2007, in 2154 Rayburn
Dick's Shooting Ranch: the Welfare Queen of the Farm Bill
Remember the King Ranch, where Dick Cheney shot an old man in the face? Well, American citizens aren't allowed access to the shootings that happen on the Ranch. But they're paying the bills. NPR and the CIR report that Dick and Rove's buddies have been one of the biggest recipient of subsidies from farm bills from 1999 to 2005, sucking in $8.3 million over the time.
Update on the Government's Response to Nacchio
Two words about this update. First, to clarify from my earlier post: the WaPo article refers to a filing written in February 2007 that was just unsealed yesterday. So in fact, there are several more recent filings from Nacchio that rebut the claims made in this newly unsealed document.
Here's the important part.
They're Scared
I'm watching the HJC hearing on politicized prosecutions. And boy, have the Republicans come loaded for bear, on two counts. First, the Republicans attempted to insinuate that Jill Simpson's allegations about the Don Siegelman prosecution must be false because she did not testify publicly today. Congressman Forbes repeated a tactic Republicans used when Valerie Wilson testified before Waxman's committee--suggesting that Simpson "be referred" to DOJ for investigation.
The Kiddie Porn Excuse
Remember when Alberto Gonzales called for Google to preserve all its search data to support potential child porn investigations? We crazy moonbats suggested that that sounded like an invitation for abuse, that once Google had preserved the records, such records would be accessed for other purposes.
Now Cannonfire points to one such case.
In brief:
The Prosecutors' Response to Nacchio
The WaPo reports that more documents have been unsealed in the Nacchio case--and they show (Prosecutors claim) that Nacchio's claim to have lost business don't hold up.
Qwest Communicationsbelonged to a business alliance that won a rich national securitycontract in the summer of 2001, undermining claims that authoritiesretaliated against its former chief executive for refusing to supportan unidentified government program earlier that year, prosecutors saidin documents released yesterday.
I'm on two deadlines for
Protect Whistleblowers before Extending Reporter's Privilege
I suggested the other day that there were likely to be some unintended consequences if the reporter's shield bill passes as is. What I didn't say in that post is that there is a better way to encourage the free flow of information--particularly in this era when everyone can fulfill the role of journalist:
Henry Sez: Erik Prince, You Owe the Feds $48 Million
Congressman Waxman gets pretty aggressive in his latest letter to Erik Prince, CEO of Blackwater. He basically accuses Blackwater of evading taxes by treating its employees as independent contractors, rather than employees.
I have received documents which suggest that Blackwater may have engaged in significant tax evasion. According to an IRS ruling in March 2007, Blackwater violated federal tax laws by treating an armed guard as an "independent contractor." The implication of
Gonzales Refuses to Answer Questions
Via C&L, John McKay made some really revealing comments in Spokane on Friday.
The U.S. Inspector General may recommend criminal prosecution ofdeparted Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at the conclusion of aninvestigation, possibly as early as next month, the fired former U.S.attorney for Western Washington told a Spokane audience Friday.
[snip]
McKay said he was summoned to Washington, D.C., in June andquestioned for eight hours about possible reasons for his firing byinvestigators with the Office
What Remains Unsaid
Here's my favorite exchange from Stanford Lawyer's interview of Carol Lam (h/t bmaz):
YOU SERVED UNDER BOTH JOHN ASHCROFT AND ALBERTO GONZALES. HOW DID THAT TRANSITION FROM ASHCROFT TO GONZALES AFFECT YOUR LIFE AND YOUR DUTIES AS A U.S. ATTORNEY?
The structures of the department were in place, so I didn't expect a lot of impact from the change in attorney general under the same administration.
Jello Jay Rockefeller's "Deal"
There are two key details from this article on the "deal" "negotiated" between Jay Rockefeller and Dick Cheney. First, a comment from Dana Perino states that the SSCI had to first accede to telecom immunity before they could see the documents justifying the program.
Dana Perino, the White House press secretary, said Friday that the SenateIntelligence Committee had gained access to the documents only afterits leaders had indicated that they would grant
The Public Pressure on Subpoenas
Yesterday, there were two stories about subpoenas of journalists that suggest something about journalist subpoenas. The first story involves an attempt by some Phoenix big-wigs to cow the alternative New Times into backing off investigations into them.
In a breathtaking abuse of the United States Constitution, Sheriff JoeArpaio, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, and their increasinglyunhinged cat's paw, special prosecutor Dennis Wilenchik, used the grandjury to subpoena "all documents related to articles
The Show Trials
I'm not really surprised by the reason the lead prosecutor for Gitmo detainees quit--as reported by the WaPo. The Administration wanted show trials in time for the 2008 election, and they were willing to use classified information to do so.
Politically motivated officials at the Pentagon have pushed for convictions of high-profile detainees ahead of the 2008elections, the former lead prosecutor for terrorism trials at Guantanamo Bay said last night, adding that
Fieger's Judge Gets Curious
I never wanted Jeffrey Fieger to be my governor. But I'm looking forward to the way he fights his campaign finance charges, particularly now that the judge appears to think the investigation into him was politically motivated.
A federal judge in Detroit peppered a prosecutor with questions Tuesdayto find out whether the investigation that resulted in the Augustindictment of Southfield lawyer Geoffrey Fieger on campaign financecharges was politically motivated.
U.S.
FISA Update
Via Laura Rozen--there are several interesting things in this article. First, Bush has given over the family jewels--the legal opinions justifying their illegal domestic wiretapping program. He has given them to SJC, but not to HJC.
Across the Capitol, Senate Intelligence Chairman John D. RockefellerIV, D W.Va., said his staff Tuesday reviewed legal opinions and otherdocuments the panel had sought related to the NSA program.
Trojan First Amendment
In his book, Unequal Protection, Thom Hartman shows how corporations (specifically, railroads) used the 14th Amendment--which ostensibly guaranteed African Americans the same rights other citizens enjoyed--to enshrine the concept of corporate personhood in our legal system.
With the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment, the owners of the what werethen America’s largest and most powerful corporations - the railroads -figured they’d finally found a way to reverse Paine’s logic and no longerhave to