Author Archive for: emptywheel
About emptywheel
Marcy Wheeler is an independent journalist writing about national security and civil liberties. She writes as emptywheel at her eponymous blog, publishes at outlets including Vice, Motherboard, the Nation, the Atlantic, Al Jazeera, and appears frequently on television and radio. She is the author of Anatomy of Deceit, a primer on the CIA leak investigation, and liveblogged the Scooter Libby trial.
Marcy has a PhD from the University of Michigan, where she researched the “feuilleton,” a short conversational newspaper form that has proven important in times of heightened censorship. Before and after her time in academics, Marcy provided documentation consulting for corporations in the auto, tech, and energy industries. She lives with her spouse in Grand Rapids, MI.
Entries by emptywheel
The Thaw that Started Five Months Ago
/44 Comments/in 2008 Presidential Election, Foreign Policy/by emptywheelThe press is agog that Hillary and Richard Mellon Scaife made nice last week. But that peace-making follows five months after an earlier one between Bill Clinton and Richard Mellon Scaife. I’m not sure what that means, as far as Scaife’s motives (I presume the Clintons would just like his support, or, barring that, would like him to avoid funding a bunch of wingnut bloodhounds to sniff their panties and boxers). But it does suggest the thaw is much more than a one-off thing.
Not Even John Yoo Approved of the Illegal Wiretap Program
/129 Comments/in FISA, Unitary Executive/by emptywheelI do hope that Eric Lichtblau’s book gets enough coverage this week to further stall Jello Jay’s attempts to ram through telecom immunity. The excerpt in the NYT today reveals that when the illegal wiretap program started in 2001, it had no specific legal authorization–not even from the compliant John Yoo!
Robert S.
The DNC Email Ruling
/23 Comments/in Bush Administration, Democrats, emptywheel, Law, USA Purge/by emptywheelThe Democratic National Committee has been suing the DOJ in DC District Court to obtain some 68 pages of emails relaing to the US Attorney purge. There are two issues to be contemplated here. The first is the relative propriety of Huvelle’s decision, and foundation therefor, in the DNC case, and the second is what implications it may have for the greater mass of contentious email issues that are percolating in our midst.
Questions
/74 Comments/in emptywheel/by emptywheelWhat’s Wrong With This Picture? Wilkes Sprung From Slammer!
/28 Comments/in Bush Administration, Hollinger International, Law/by emptywheelAlmost like it was a Friday evening news or document dump coming out of the Bush White House, news has just hit the wires that convict Brent Wilkes has been released from prison pending appeal.
Wheel Squirrels Stumble Into Bear Nuts – An Economic Update and Forum
/68 Comments/in emptywheel/by emptywheelA couple of days ago, we discussed what really happened, and what the longer term implications might be, in the Bear Stearns forced sale/bailout over the March 15-16 weekend. There have been several things that have come out since then that are right on point with what we were all chewing on. Consider this an open forum for all things economy related.
Listening To You – Mukasey Plays The Emotion Card
/66 Comments/in Bush Administration, Democrats, FISA, Intelligence, Law, Terrorism/by emptywheelThe Bush Administration and their never say die FISA/Immunity push are like cockroaches. You can’t kill em, and they never go away. Well, they’re back again. Attorney General Michael Mukasey has graduated from DC water carrier to full fledged traveling snake oil salesman for the Cheney/Bush Administration and their sordid attempts to cover their own criminal wrongdoing via retroactive immunity for telcos. We need to saddle up and get ready as well; because next week is time to get back to work on slaying the twin headed FISA/Immunity beast.