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
Main Core
/168 Comments/in FISA, Unitary Executive/by emptywheelRadar provides an explanation for what so offended Jim Comey about the warrantless wiretapping program. They were using the warrantless wiretaps to collect information for a database called Main Core, which is basically a database of anyone the federal government considers potential enemies of the state.
You Can’t Clean the Stench Out of the Straight Talk for Lobbyists Express
/111 Comments/in emptywheel/by emptywheelMcCain seems to think getting rid of active lobbyists from his campaign, one year in, will cleanse the campaign of the stench of impropriety. But how do clean the stench off the policy positions formulated in the last year, when the lobbyists had ready access to McCain on the Straight Talk for Lobbyists Express? McCain’s policies will always be the policies of the lobbyists of his campaign, whether or not they’ve left of “retired” from lobbying.
The 9/11 Detainees Want Hartmann Disqualified, Too
/17 Comments/in Gitmo Show Trials, Terrorism/by emptywheelIn thoroughly unsurprising news, the defense attorneys for the 5 9/11 High Value Detainees (including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi bin al-Shibh) have moved to either have the charges against their clients dismissed or, at least, have General Hartmann disqualified as Legal Advisor to the Show Trials.
One Very Special Disclosure Survey
/26 Comments/in 2008 Presidential Election/by emptywheelThe McCain campaign is finally doing the work to ferret out all the improper conflicts of interest from among McCain staffers. But that still leaves the most troubling source of potential conflicts un-revealed–the conflicts in Cindy McCain’s massive portfoiio of financial investments.