March 29, 2024 / by 

 

Bloch: Making Some Sense

I’m going to revise what I said yesterday when I suggested there was no method to Scott Bloch’s madness. After reading the longer document summarizing the Office of Special Counsel’s Task Force investigations, several key patterns stick out:

  • For investigations pertaining to DOJ, the Task Force’s investigations got caught up in the turnover between Alberto Gonzales and Michael Mukasey
  • For the investigations pertaining to the politicization of federal agencies, the Task Force was presented with real jurisdictional issues that presented challenges for the inevstigation

This doesn’t mean Bloch is a particularly good manager or investigator. It appears, rather, that he got in over his head when he attempted to take on this high level investigation in May 2007 and, certainly by November 2007, had made these investigations personal.

Timing

The timing reflected in the document reveals some of the problems with the Task Force itself. It was formed in May 2007 to conduct larger investigations–primarily the politicization of government agencies (arising out of Henry Waxman’s own investigation of Lurita Doan), and the politicization of DOJ. Thus, it was started after both those events had significantly played out and (in the case of DOJ) many of the players had quit. The Task Force also inherited a couple of investigations started earlier–primarily an investigation into Rove’s travel started in March 2006.

That means the Task Force didn’t really get started until June 2007. On August 27, 2007, Alberto Gonzales resigned. Michael Mukasey was nominated on September 17, 2007, and approved by the Senate on November 8, 2007. Then this document was drafted on January 18, 2008. So what we’re seeing in the document–particularly as it relates to anything pertaining to DOJ–are the activities taking place after the trauma resulting from the USA Purge and through the period of transition between Gonzales and Mukasey. This explains at least some of the issues surrounding the investigations into DOJ.

For example, OSC had already begun an investigation into the Iglesias firing on May 4, 2007. Remember–that investigation was originally started because the Administration stated publicly that they fired Iglesias because he was an "absentee landlord" because he traveled so much in connection with his service in the Naval Reserve. Firing Iglesias for such a reason would violate the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, which prohibits firing a service member for absences due to military service. Somehow, by May 17, the newly-created Task Force was also investigating his firing as a possible Hatch Act violation, and by May 22, it was investigating the firing of all the USAs. So the OSC took an investigation over which OSC had clear jurisdiction and broadened it into one in which it didn’t.

As early as May 4 (that is, even before the Task Force was created), this investigation conflicted with DOJ’s joint Inspector General (OIG)/Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) investigation into the firings. On May 4 and May 29, DOJ complained about jurisdictional issues, even involving unnamed people in Office of Legal Counsel (OLC).

Now, at this point, I don’t necessarily fault Bloch for pursuing this investigation. Alberto Gonzales was attempting to bury the investigation by giving OPR sole jurisdiction, meaning the investigators would report directly to him and not produce a public report. And given the crap that has come out of the Bush OLC, who knows what OLC was saying to Bloch to justify their argument that he should drop his investigation?

The problem, though, is that OSC only would have jurisdiction if Bloch could prove that an executive branch employee–as distinct from a legislative branch employee or a local politico–pressured the USAs to conduct politicized investigations. In other words, if it was clear that Monica Goodling was pressuring Iglesias et al to prosecute Democrats, then Bloch would have jurisdiction; but if Senator Domenici and Heather Wilson did so, Bloch wouldn’t have jurisdiction. And the only way Bloch might get evidence that executive branch employees were involved would be to get the kind of information that DOJ and–especially–the White House refused to turn over to Congress.

As it happens, OSC requested those documents on August 13, 2007, just two weeks before Gonzales resigned. DOJ didn’t turn anything over by the OSC due date, September 13, after Gonzales resigned and just after Mukasey was nominated. The Task Force and Bloch spent the next several months wavering about whether to negotiate cooperation with DOJ or whether to subpoena documents. By the time they actually got into a real conversation with the now-Mukasey led DOJ about cooperating on January 16, DOJ was (according to public reports) deep into an OIG-led investigation into the firings. Since this document was published on January 18, just two days after DOJ asked OSC once again to hold off, we don’t know from the document what has happened in the last four months.

Now, the timing concerning the politicized hiring (Monica Goodling’s "over the line" stuff and civil rights hiring) is a little more curious. The Task Force apparently did not consider investigating this crystal clear violation of the Hatch Act until August 20. For some indication of how late that was, I first figured out that Goodling was issuing loyalty oaths on March 29, and Goodling testified to "crossing the line" on May 23. Bloch told the Task Force not to open an investigation into the politicized hiring on August 29, just two days after Gonzales resigned. Now, it appears that OSC did not move on the investigation because of the DOJ investigation into these issues. But it also appears they were learning about the DOJ investigation second-hand, via David Iglesias. In other words, unlike with the USA purge investigation, Bloch did not choose to fight with DOJ over this investigation, even though this one fits more squarely into OSC’s jurisdiction.

That obviously ought to raise questions–why investigate the firings, when jurisdiction is a stretch, and not the hirings, where jurisdiction is clear? That’s where I stop understanding Bloch’s decision. Still, given all the rest of his decisions, it wouldn’t surprise me if he was just struggling to turn these investigations into something meaningful with little real consideration of what his real mandate was.

There are two more investigations that fall under this timing: Siegelman and Schlozman. Both, though, fall into that grey transition time between the resignation of Gonzales and the start of Mukasey. The Task Force started investigating the Siegelman case in September 2007, and was told not to convene the investigation in October 2007. The Task Force started investigating the Schlozman case in November 2007 and was told not to open a case a week later.

Jurisdiction

The decisions surrounding OSC’s investigation of the politicization of executive branch agencies seem to come from jurisdictional issues created by the way BushCo hid their politicization on the RNC server.

The short history of the OSC investigation into the politicization of executive branch agencies goes like this:

June 2007: The Task Force begins the investigation by requesting information from 25 executive branch agencies and the White House

September 2007: The Task Force begins to receive information in response to requests to agencies

October 2007: The Task Force receives information from White House

November 14, 2007: Bloch directs the Task Force to do some consolidation of investigations–and to close some other investigations

November 14, 2007: Bloch directs the Task Force to go after RNC emails–the Task Force registers an objection based on jurisdictional grounds

November 14, 2007: Bloch directs the Task Force to go after a large range of information wrt the Office of Public Affairs (Rove’s old shop)–"the Special Counsel wants us to draft a ‘hard hittting’ [request] that will explain everything there is to know about OPA"–the Task Force again expresses concerns about the breadth of the requests

November 21, 2007: Bloch tells the Task Force to request all grant awards–Task Force objects that there is no evidence that suggests such information is necessary

November 26, 2007: The Task Force begins to go after RNC emails released to Congress pertaining to the USA purge

November 28, 2007: WSJ reports on Office of Personnel Management investigation of Bloch (updated per WO’s comment)

December 14, 2007: The Task Force submits a draft subpoena for the RNC emails released to Congress pertaining to the USA purge

January 16, 2008: Bloch tells the Task Force to go much broader with its request for RNC emails–to cover 10 different topics

January 18, 2008 (the day this summary was completed): The Task Force subpoenas all RNC emails concerning grants and other executive branch agencies

I find this investigation a lot more curious than the investigations related to DOJ. At one level, after the OSC started receiving a bunch of information in November, it appeared that investigators judged there wasn’t much there, and got uncomfortable with the scope of the requests Bloch was forcing them to submit. That suggests that Bloch was determined to find something, even if there was no evidence there. At around the same time, Bloch was pushing the Task Force to push a second investigation into Lurita Doan, so it appears that in November, Bloch was desperate to prove that his signature investigations had real substance.

There’s one thing I don’t particularly buy about that reading, though. One of the biggest smoking guns from the Lurita Doan/GSA investigation was the treatment of email from Scott Jennings (Rove’s lackey) to Doan. The email, remember, went through the RNC server. And those involved wanted to keep it hush hush. In other words, BushCo deliberately tried to hide the way it was politicizing agencies by keeping all communication about it off of government servers.

Which is why I find the investigators’ proposed actions surrounding the RNC emails inexplicable. While I respect their contention that asking for all emails sent by OPA employees using the RNC server may be too much, I also think there’s ample reason to believe that those emails were deliberately used to hide stuff. And remember, we already knew by this time–in November 2007–that the RNC said it didn’t have a bunch of these. So part of me wonders whether the investigators–and not Bloch–were trying to cover up BushCo Hatch Act abuses. Add in the fact that the Task Force’s first request was even more inexplicable. How are emails turned over relating to the USA purge going to reveal anything about political briefings? In other words, after complaining that the Bloch’s request for emails from the RNC was too broad, investigators then tried to request only emails that had nothing to do with the subject of the investigation!

So I don’t know what to make of Bloch’s big requests in November 2007. On one hand, they appear to be the work of a man obsessed, who found nothing on first glance and then decided to make hugely ambitious requests. On the other hand, his investigators seem–either out of genuine concern for their jurisdiction or because they don’t want to find anything–unwilling to go after the most likely evidence of politicization.

And since they only made the big request from the RNC on January 18, 2008–the day this draft was written–we can’t tell from the document what happened after they made that request.

Update: I was too deep into the timeline of the document. As William Ockham points out, Bloch starts ramping up this investigation in November just as it becomes clear the Office of Personnel Management was investigating him. That doesn’t explain why his investigators wouldn’t pursue the most likely potential evidence of Hatch Act violations, but it does explain why he ramped up his investigations in November. Thanks WO.

Update: Spelling typo fixed per MadDog


Bloch: Stop Making Sense

I am still catching up on events of the last week and so I don’t have a really good sense of WTF is going on with the FBI raid of Scott Bloch’s house and–according to NPR, via Sara–body cavities. But I wanted to point you to this analysis of a document drafted by a bunch of Office of Special Counsel investigators, listing their complaints about Bloch’s intervention into their investigations. I hoped that, by reading the analysis, I could figure out whether Bloch was in the bag for the Administration or opposed to the Administration. And, for the life of me, I can’t really discern any logic to Bloch’s action.

Go read the analysis. But here’s a scorecard of what the analysis seems to suggest:

Office of Political Affairs (Karl Rove’s shop at the White House)

Bloch consistently forced the task force conducting the omnibus investigation into whether the White House illegally used agency resources to help Republicans to expand its scope, even beyond the mandate of OSC.

Score: Anti-Bush

US Attorney Firing

Bloch refused repeated DOJ Inspector General demands that he drop his investigation into whether the Administration fired David Iglesias for political reasons, even while he insisted that the Iglesias firing was not a Hatch Act violation. Bloch seems to have insisted on keeping the case either because it was so high profile or to stymie DOJ IG’s investigation.

Score: Pro-Bush if done to stymie DOJ IG’s investigation

Monica Goodling’s Use of Political Tests in DOJ’s Hiring Practices

Bloch repeatedly refused to allow investigators to open an investigation into Goodling’s admitted Hatch Act violations. When he finally allowed investigators to open such an investigation, he allocated no resources to that investigation.

Score: Pro-Bush

Don Siegelman Prosecution

Bloch ordered investigators to close their investigation into the politicized prosecution of Don Siegelman.

Score: Pro-Bush

Politicized Prosecution of ACORN for Voting Fraud

Bloch refused to allow investigators to open an investigation into whether the timing of Missouri US Attorney Office indictments of ACORN voter registration employees was politically motivated.

Score: Pro-Bush

Lurita Doan

After completing an investigation into Lurita Doan which concluded that she had violated the Hatch Act, Bloch ordered investigators to open a second investigation into Doan, from a time before she worked in the Administration involving her husband. This second investigation sounds like a personal witch hunt against Doan.

Score: Anti-Bush

Karl Rove

After investigators determined that, since all of Rove’s travel was billed to the RNC (and therefore no White House resources–aside, presumably, from his salary–were devoted to Rove’s political events, his actions did not constitute a Hatch Act violation, Bloch ordered investigators to expand their investigation into Rove.

Score: Anti-Bush

See what I mean? I intend to come back and read the complete document. But from this summary, it appears there’s no consistent pattern, at least not on a typical partisan scale. You might argue that Bloch kept expanding the investigation into Rove and OPA to hide illegitimate activities behind the legitimate ones. But then why the second investigation into Doan, particularly when Bloch knew Bush wasn’t going to to fire her anyway–at least not until last week? Similarly, you might assume that Bloch was simply trying to expand his turf and potential glory for successful investigations. But then why spike a slam dunk investigation into Goodling’s political hiring practices?

I’m beginning to think that Bloch–with his thumb drives stuck in some bodily cavity–is simply crazy or dumb.

Update: OSP turned to OPA per WO


FISA: The Coming Battle

As I am minding the store while mom is away tilting kilts, I was party to a group discussion among several notable powers that be in the blogosphere early this afternoon, and the various blogs, all of which you are intimately familiar with, will be rolling out over the next few days somewhat of a battle plan on FISA/immunity. Nothing particularly new or shocking really, just a reminder to folks of the stakes involved and where the pressure points are that we need to address.

I wish I could say that there is some new brilliant, sexy and effective tact that we have lit upon to wipe this all away; but that, alas, is not the case. It will be back to the grindstone of calling, faxing and otherwise communicating with the key representatives etc. One thing I think will be critical is to offer plenty of carrots, with gentle reminders of the sticks. As you will recall, we got a surprisingly good response, and result, from the House Democrats in the last go round. We want to build, grow and reinforce that effort and result. The gathering proximity of the election is a double edged sword however. It is a chance for us to remind them of how favorably we view the last effort, but it is clearly also another opportunity for the Bushies to roll out the fear/security card and threaten the weak, and weakly situated, elements (read mostly Blue Dogs) of the Democratic coalition. It is going to be critical for those of us that actually live in districts represented by one of these souls to work them hard.

I have some things that will divide most of my attention for a few hours; although I will check in periodically as I can. In the meantime, use this space to discuss anything you feel important, but please start putting all the collective talent together to suggest ways and means for fighting the next stage of the FISA battle. My post from yesterday morning pretty much gives the lay of the land as it is understood at this moment; there are no real new baseline facts since then. Thanks.


Jello Jay And Hoyer Slither Back Into The FISA Limelight

Crikey, this is getting old. You may have seen by now that rumors of a new push on passage of FISA, and, of course, full retroactive immunity, are bubbling to the surface in the last 24 hours. Here is Jane. Here is Digby. Here is McJoan. From Jane at FDL:

According to the ACLU, there is rumor of a backroom deal being brokered by Jay Rockefeller on FISA that will include retroactive immunity. I’ve heard from several sources that Steny Hoyer is doing the dirty work on the House side, and some say it will be attached to the new supplemental.

A few more facts and circumstances are available now than were in the earlier stories. For one, we apparently see the "urgency lever" being pressed this time around (there always seems to be one in these plays, it’s a feature). From Alexander Bolton at The Hill:

The topic has reached a critical point because surveillance orders granted by the director of national intelligence and the attorney general under the authority of the Protect America Act begin to expire in August.

If Congress does not approve an overhaul of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) by Memorial Day, intelligence community officials will have to prepare dozens of individual surveillance warrants, a cumbersome alternative to the broader wiretapping authority granted by the Protect America Act, say congressional officials familiar with the issue.

Maybe, but if so, then the situation is intentionally so from a designated plan by the Administration to have some of their programs start running out while they are still in office and can use the "urgency" to fuel their desperate push for immunity. The reason, if you will recall, is the little provision placed in the Protect America Act (PAA) allowing any surveillance order (i.e entire general program, not just individual warrants) existing at the sunset of the PAA, which occurred on February 17, 2008, to continue until expiration, which means that there was NO necessity that any program that the government wished to pursue expire anytime during the current Administration. I have reminded folks of this repeatedly, but here is a wonderful synopsis from Cindy Cohn of EFF:

The PAA provides that any currently ongoing surveillance continues until the "date of expiration of such order," even if PAA expires. "Orders" are what the PAA calls the demand for surveillance by the Attorney General or Director of National Intelligence (there’s no court involved). These surveillance orders can be issued for up to a year at a time, and since the PAA is only 6 months old, every order issued under the PAA will still continue for at least six months, until July 31, 2008, even if the law expires. And a surveillance order issued on January 30, 2008 will allow continued surveillance until January 30, 2009.

Even immunity proponent Senator Rockefeller agrees on this point. In a press release he issued today (it’s not online yet) he said: "Our government will continue to have authority under the law until at least August of this year, and can even extend that authority until January 2009."

So, it is pretty likely that anything that is expiring while this Administration is in office is something that they specifically and intentionally did not care about or, better yet, wanted to expire in order to use as a wedge ploy down the road to get their immunity while they are still in office. For any program order they cared about, all they had to do was implement it, or renew it if it had already been instituted, immediately prior the expiration of the PAA and it would have then been viable and active well past when they are out of office. If they didn’t do that, they didn’t care. They pull this bunk every time; don’t fall for it.

There is another old meme that I would like to knock back down before it gets out of hand again; namely that what is going on here is the result of panic and demand by the telcos. For all the same reasons I pointed out here at length, that just is not the case, and nothing since then has changed that fact. There have been nothing but token efforts to keep up appearances by the telcos in regards to lobbying and otherwise forcing passage of immunity. Jane mentions that AT&T hired the new big gun lobby shop, Breaux-Lott, to lead their lobby efforts on immunity. And just how many millions, heck tens of millions, of dollars did AT&T pay the two former heavyweight Senate Leaders to save AT&T’s very existence in life? Uh, that would be zero millions of dollars. AT&T is expending the whopping grand total of $150,000 for their entire lobbying effort. Yep, a paltry $150K. You have got to be kidding me; they are so not even trying that they may not even be breathing on this issue.

No, if AT&T really gave a tinker’s damn about immunity, they would be expending closer to $150 million than $150 thousand. This immunity push is now, and always has been, solely about protecting the dirty rear ends of Bush, Cheney and their slacker lackeys, and covering up the evidence of their blatant systematic and systemic criminal conduct. Never forget that. Instead, the push is being made through the same old tact; Republican solidarity and immense political pressure and manipulation of the Blue Dog Democrats. Again, from The Hill:

Hoyer has discussed various possible compromises with Blue Dogs in the hope of avoiding defections similar to what Democratic leaders saw on Republican-favored immigration legislation.

“A number of Blue Dogs are working on a compromise between the House and the Senate,” said Rep. Jane Harman (Calif.), a member of the Blue Dog Coalition and the former ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. “I’m working with Hoyer and working with others.

“Some other Blue Dogs are involved,” she added. “Blue Dogs are 47 votes; 47 votes will determine how this comes out.”

Oh goody, the Blue Dogs are still driving the bus, and Jane Harman is still smack dab in the middle of the pie with her questionable history of acquiescence with Bush’s surveillance program; and, perhaps more importantly, reason to cover it up. This group of constant weak links is being subjected to immense pressure to sell out the Constitution and country’s right to privacy; but, again, not from the telco lobby, but rather Bush/Cheney political surrogate shadow operations. Once again, from The Hill:

Conservative and freshman Democrats are growing skittish. These lawmakers expect campaign opponents to accuse them of imperiling national security if Congress does not enact new intelligence surveillance legislation.

One outside interest group, the Defense of Democracies Action Fund, has already launched radio ads specifically criticizing Blue Dog Democrats for supporting a House-crafted intelligence bill opposed by President Bush.

Defense of Democracies is, exactly like Freedom’s Watch, nothing but a high powered Bush/Cheney/RNC mouthpiece. So, the bottom line is we know what the goal of the FISA push is (immunity), we know who wants it and why (the Bush/Cheneys because they have engaged in a mass criminal conspiracy and need cover), and we know the path the push will take (GOP assimilation of Blue Dogs). Really, the only part of this puzzle we do not yet know is what the precise nature of "the compromise" is that will cravenly be peddled.

If you will remember, back in early March, there was a compromise proposal floated in the House that would allow for case by case immunity determinations to be made by courts based on certifications and ex parte arguments by the government. Here are the thoughts I expressed at the time, but in short, i agreed with the EFF and ACLU that it was a surprisingly acceptable proposal. The Bush Administration, of course, immediately shrieked and threatened veto. Clearly, such reasonable compromises seem to be relegated to the dustheap of history and we are now back to some other form of "compromise" that results in unmitigated full retroactive immunity. Typical of a Bushco "compromise", we give them everything they want, and in return we get jack.

If there is any two way compromise deal (as opposed to an illusion that just gives Bush what he wants), the best bet at this point is that it will involve Bushco giving slight concessions on exclusivity provisions that they do not really want, in return for getting full retroactive immunity. The other possibility that has been floated involves full retroactive immunity for telecoms in exchange for a bipartisan commission to investigate the illegal wiretapping; but this has about zero chance of being acceptable to the Bushies, they simply are not going to agree to be investigated.

So, the foregoing being what appears to be the case, it looks like we need to gear up immediately for the same full court battle we have been having; the "compromise" is looking bad once again. That said, painful as it may be, it is time to get back to work with your fingers and phones. You know the drill. Make sure they remember that Donna Edwards is going to have a seat in Congress and Al Wynn will not; and the vote was not even close. Make them remember what this country stands for. Here is a list of the Blue Doggies. Here is a comprehensive list of contact information for all House members. And please don’t forget Steny Hoyer.


One Day, One Resignation

Woo hoo! I’ve barely left the country, and already we’ve got our first sacking: that of Lurita Doan.

Dear Friends and Colleagues at GSA,

Early this evening I was asked to submit my resignation, and I have just done so. It has been a great privilege to serve with all of you and to serve our nation and a great President.

The past twenty-two months have been filled with accomplishments: together, we have regained our clean audit opinion, restored fiscal discipline, re-tooled our ability to respond to emergencies, rekindled entrepreneurial energies, reduced bureaucratic barriers to small companies to get a GSA Schedule, ignited a building boom at our nation’s ports of entries, boldly led the nation in an aggressive telework initiative, and improved employee morale so that we were selected as one of the best places to work in the Federal government.

These accomplishments are made even more enjoyable by the fact that there were lots of people who told us they could never be done.

Best of luck to all of you, it has been a true honor.

The question is, why now?

As you’ll recall, almost a year ago, Scott Bloch recommended that George Bush fire Doan. Bloch had determined that Doan had violated the Hatch Act, but since Doan is was an agency head, only Bush could fire her.

And given the amount of time that has passed since then, it appears Bush didn’t think the wholesale politicization of the GSA was a firing offense (go figure).  

So if violating the Hatch Act doesn’t merit firing, what does? 


Is Isikoff Laundering Information for Karl Rove Again?

As you’ll recall from the Plame case, Michael Isikoff helped Karl Rove stay out of jail in at least three ways:

  • After the WaPo published the damaging 1X2X6 article, Isikoff published an article appearing to–but not entirely–refuting it (Isikoff tried again in Hubris, claiming that the 1X2X6 story only got printed due to an editorial error, an attempt that Swopa quickly shredded).
  • When he called Luskin for comment on the fact that Rove was Matt Cooper’s source for Plame’s identity, Isikoff (by his own admission) read Luskin the entire email from Cooper to his editor, alerting Rove’s lawyer to everything that appeared in one of the main pieces of documentary evidence that incriminated Rove.
  • Just before the inquiry, Rove someone at the White House prodded Isikoff to ask Woodward about his "bombshell," probably forcing Woodward to come clean that Armitage had leaked Plame’s identity to him in June 2003, thereby ruining what little value Armitage would have had in a perjury case against Rove.

Laundering information through journalists is a common Rove tactic. For example, someone conveniently launched a false campaign insinuating Ari Fleischer was one of the Novak’s for Plame’s identity; by coincidence (ha!) that campaign was launched the day that Luskin attempted to manage the revelation that Rove was one of Novak’s sources. Even going way back to his days in Texas Rove laundered leaks through the press to attack Jim Hightower and Ronnie Earle.

But in recent years–certainly during the CIA Leak case–Isikoff has been one of Rove’s key information conduits.

In the last couple of months, Rove seems to have been attempting–with no apparent success–to goad reporters covering the Siegelman case to serve as similar information conduits. His surrogates in the AL GOP tried to demand information from CBS and MSNBC about what evidence there is implicating Karl, all while refusing to give up their own information. More recently, Rove has launched a pissing contest with Dan Abrams, attacking Abrams’ journalism, apparently in an attempt to force him to reveal information about evidence against him. Yet with Rove out of the White House, his ability to use journalists to his own ends seems to have diminished.

Except, perhaps, with Isikoff.

The other day, I noted that the news that the revelation of Bob Kjellander’s discussions about firing Patrick Fitzgerald with Rove was an unsurprising move from Fitzgerald. By introducing it in court, it made the information publicly available for others–like John Conyers–to use it for other purposes.

Fitzgerald’s office (though not Fitzgerald personally) has just said to John Conyers, "Hey, I see you’re still looking into politicized prosecutions. Well, here’s a witness who can testify that a Rove crony was working with Rove to get Fitzgerald fired–just before Fitzgerald almost got fired." This adds another witness–like Dana Jill Simpson–who is willing to testify that Rove got personally involved in prosecutions affecting his political allies. But it also brings someone from the requesting side to the fore–someone who (unlike the GOP cronies in Washington who got John McKay fired and unlike the GOP cronies in NM who got Iglesias fired) is apparently willing (and presumably has already signed an affidavit to the effect) to testify that Karl Rove entertained these demands for firing seriously. Conyers will, undoubtedly, take a few days to respond (he’s not so quick as Henry Waxman), but I imagine he will respond.

Sure enough, Isikoff reports today that Conyers is going to follow up on the tidbit coming out of the Rezko trial.

The House Judiciary Committee "intends to investigate the facts and circumstances alleged in this testimony," panel chairman Rep. John Conyers of Michigan said in a statement to NEWSWEEK.

Yup, Conyers was right on schedule with his three-days-longer-than-it-takes-Waxman schedule. Since all of this is so unsurprising, let me add another completely predictable detail. Isikoff includes in his story a description of precisely the kind of evidence Ata has against Rove.

A source familiar with Ata’s testimony (who asked not to be identified talking about sensitive matters) said that Ata was meeting regularly with Rezko that fall. The two men shared a concern about Fitzgerald’s ongoing probe of Illinois public officials. In one of those conversations, the developer allegedly told Ata that Bob Kjellander, a prominent GOP state lobbyist, was talking to Rove about getting rid of Fitzgerald. The reason: to "get a new U.S. attorney" who would not pursue the Illinois corruption probe, the source said. Ata, who has pleaded guilty to corruption-related charges and is now cooperating with the Feds, has no evidence that the conversation took place other than what Rezko allegedly told him, the source says.

I swear, somewhere on Isikoff’s computer there’s a file called "KeepRoveOutOfThePokey.dot." It reads something like this:

A source familiar with [insert name of witness against Rove in the current scandal]’s testimony (who asked not to be identified talking about sensitive matters) said that [insert summary of witness testimony]. [insert all details described in any legal documents; when possible, quote the pertinent phrases verbatim]. [insert clear description of whether or not witness has any direct evidence that implicates Rove].

I mean, Isikoff must have a template for this stuff, right? Otherwise, how would he be able to replicate these helpful leaks so precisely time and time again?

One more thing. I wonder why Isikoff quoted that bit from Conyers: "intends to investigate the facts and circumstances alleged in this testimony"? Was Isikoff probing for more specific information there, too, such as whether Conyers already had some kind of evidence from Ata, or whether Conyers planned to bring Ata to testify?

Update: very very basic grammar fixed per danps.


EW’s Famous Football Trash Talk* – What The Puck Edition


Are you ready for some football? Hot damn, I am. And guess what, there really is football to talk about. And lots of other things too, but let’s start off with the gridiron. Hey, did you notice that the asterisk is still in the title? Of course it is, because Spygate is the gift that keeps on giving for the New England Patriots. Thank god that FISA stuff seems to be wrapping up, because the ole Scottish Haggis is gonna be needing the legislative time and resources to question Matt Walsh and get to the bottom of Belichick’s torture tapes.

Alright, lets get down to business. The 2008 NFL Entry Draft is beginning as this post is going up. Michigan offensive lineman Jake Long has already been signed by the Fish, and Howie Long’s spawn is reportedly set to be taken at number two by the Rams. Then the crapshoot begins. What needs does your team have, who do you like to fill them, and what else is up on the pigskin front? I understand the Patriots are torn between this guy and this guy.

Don’t tell Marcy, but there are actually sports other than football. In fact, I understand that, up in Canada, they play something called hockey; and not just any hockey understand you, they are currently in Playoff Hockey for the cherished Stanley Cup. The Cup has to be the coolest trophy in all of sports, every winning player gets his name etched onto it for eternity. And it goes fun places during the year as each player on the winning team gets to cart it around wherever he wants. I hear tell it goes to a lot of pubs, and a few cathouses too. I don’t know diddly squat about hockey, but in honor of our fine feathered friends in the Great White North, Ishmael, Skdadl, and all the others, I thought we ought to give a shout out to Stanley Cup Playoffs, thus the "What The Puck" part of the title to this post.

Due to the surprising response I got the last time, I will also trot out F1 for your consideration. This weekend is Round four of the circus, the Spanish GP from Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain. Kimi Raikkonen is on pole, having beaten out Fernando Alonso in literally the last second of qualifying. Catalunya is a nice circuit, should make for an excellent race. Heh, you know America is one screwed up place when Max Mosely’s Nazi torture fantasy with hookers gets more press than, you know, the President of the United States actually torturing people. Go figure.

Last, but most certainly not least, I want to note yesterday’s announcement that there was a putative appearance of the Wackiest Ships in the Iranian Navy and Filipino Monkey. Of course, the US government already has twenty different takes on the incident. Pretty much the only time our bozos can keep a story straight is when they are ginning up propaganda for their Rent-A-Generals. The video attached to this post is in honor of my two favorite monkeys, The Filipino and The Boosh (technically a chimpanzee I guess). Do check out the video, it is pretty cool. Monkey Man by the one and only Rolling Stones.

Lastly, EW is going to be up with an important post on the Michigan Clusterfuck and her rational solution thereto. I think it is going to be double posted both here and at FDL. At any rate, there is going to be a full court press to get some publicity and national press on the post, so chip in, sign the petition and spread the word. However, because it is important to the cause, use this thread for any "Off Topic" discussions etc. so that she can keep that thread clean and on point.


CIA And Bushco Have A Rather Large Criminal Obstruction Problem: The Torture Tapes Come Home To Roost

By now, the story of the CIA’s destruction of the "torture tapes" is well known. Although the problems with the CIA, and every other portion of the Bush Administration, maintaining custody and control of evidentiary video and audio tapes is literally almost a running bad joke, the capstone revelation came with a December 6, 2007 New York Times article by Mark Mazzetti. Mazzetti’s article detailed the willful destruction by the CIA of videotapes directly exhibiting the use by US Agents of "extreme interrogation techniques" on detainees Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.

To refresh your recollection of the entire sequence of events on the Torture Tapes, here is a remarkably complete timeline. For the instant consideration, the critical event is the evidence supplied to date by the Bush Administration, and most significantly the CIA, on their rationale for the destruction of the Zubaydah and al-Nashiri tapes. The initial statement of the position and defense of the CIA is contained in CIA Director Michael Hayden’s message to the body of his agency, which indicates:

…CIA videotaped interrogations, and destroyed the tapes in 2005. I understand that the Agency did so only after it was determined they were no longer of intelligence value and not relevant to any internal, legislative, or judicial inquiries–including the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui.

The official position has been further refined by testimony of CIA Acting General Counsel John Rizzo and the pseudo-proffer of Jose Rodriquez via his attorney Bob Bennett. We also know that, at a minimum, four White House lawyers were involved in discussion of the proposed destruction of the tapes. The most recent evidence of the government’s position is contained in sworn statements by CIA officials made in mid-April in the Rashid Abdullah case, again positing nothing but good faith and lack of knowledge of any compelling reason to preserve the tapes.

However, yesterday, an insufficiently noticed page A-16 story by Dan Eggen in the Washington Post, appears to put the lie to the defenses the Administration has posited to date and raise serious issues in relation to intentional, malicious destruction of evidence and obstruction of justice. The Post article relates information gleaned from recent CIA/Administration filings in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed last June. From the Post:

The CIA concluded that criminal, administrative or civil investigations stemming from harsh interrogation tactics were "virtually inevitable," leading the agency to seek legal support from the Justice Department, according to a CIA official’s statement in court documents filed yesterday.

The CIA said it had identified more than 7,000 pages of classified memos, e-mails and other records relating to its secret prison and interrogation program, but maintained that the materials cannot be released because they relate to, in part, communications between CIA and Justice Department attorneys or discussions with the White House.

Well, that’s interesting. It turns out that the CIA and the Bush Justice Department, the vaunted OLC no less, knew full well that the tapes were directly and specifically material and germane to "inevitable criminal, administrative or civil investigations". Oops, now that is a little different than the initial stories pitched by the Administration isn’t it? And exactly how specific and deep was the knowledge of the critical materiality of the Torture Tapes? Again, from Eggen:

The documents indicate that lawyers at the CIA and elsewhere were aware that CIA personnel might be subject to criminal prosecution or other legal sanctions.

The records submitted to the court list and briefly describe dozens of communications between the CIA and the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, or OLC. At least 10 were in 2004, five were in 2005, and seven were in 2006; virtually all were classified "top secret" or even more restricted.

"The CIA’s purpose in requesting advice from OLC was the very likely prospect of criminal, civil, or administrative litigation against the CIA and CIA personnel who participate in the Program," said a declaration from Ralph S. DiMaio, information review officer for the CIA’s clandestine service. He added that the CIA considered such proceedings "to be virtually inevitable." (Emphasis added).

It appears as if the new declarations in the FOIA lawsuit pretty much obliterate any Bush Administration pretensions of good faith belief that there was no reasonable materiality, nor potential evidentiary value, in the Torture Tapes. Correspondingly, the new declarations almost completely solidify allegations of a plethora of substantial crimes including obstruction of justice, obstruction of Congressional process, false statements to Congress, false material statements to multiple Federal courts, destruction of evidence of a governmental crime, conspiracy and, of course, torture/war crimes. I suspect we will be discussing the specific circumstances and elements of the individual crimes quite soon.

And to think, CIA Director General Michael Hayden, he of all the exculpatory lip service from the outset about no evidentiary value of the tapes, has just announced his formal retirement from the Air Force for "practical considerations related to military retirement." I’ll bet. The move appears to almost double his salary because now he can collect both his retirement pension, which will now be locked in (in case, you know, anything bad happens), and a civilian salary for his position. Will more sudden "personal employment considerations" be taken by additional Administration officials?

For anybody paying attention, the "Snowball" of Bush Administration culpability has been gathering both mass and momentum in it’s downhill run for quite some time now. In any rational and legitimate period of American democracy, the snowball would have overwhelmed Nancy Pelosi’s barren, empty table; but not in this day and age of derelict Democratic House Leadership. No, the current House Leadersheep have the mistaken notion that their oath to office demands that they protect the most corrupt and criminal Presidential Administration in history, instead of the Constitution of the United States of America. They are wrong; the sole demand of their oath of office is to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States".


How Did They Find Mr. Kadish?

Since Hillary apparently needs a reminder that Israel has nukes–some of the technology for which they stole from us–yesterday’s charging of Ben-Ami Kadish for spying
ought to provide her a useful reminder.

An 84-year-old former Army engineer in New Jersey was charged on Tuesday with leaking dozens of secret documents about nuclear arms, missiles and fighter jets to the Israeli government during the early 1980s, federal prosecutors said.

While I’d be interested in Israel’s nukes attracting more attention in discussions of Middle East policy, at the moment I’m more curious how the government suddenly discovered Kadish’s alleged spying … more than 20 years after the events in question?

The NYT admits it doesn’t know the answer to that question.

Federal officials said authorities became aware of what they called Mr. Kadish’s spying activities only in recent months but would not say how they learned of his efforts more than 20 years later.

Mr. Kadish admitted to an F.B.I. agent last month that he had shown 50 to 100 classified documents to the Israeli official, according to prosecutors’ court filings on Tuesday.

It also reminds readers that Israel had assured us that they had revealed all of the spying Yosef Yagur–the science attache who appears to have solicited Kadish’s spying and who also was the Israeli agent handling Jonathan Pollard–had engaged in.

Though Mr. Kadish is suspected of having operated at the same time as Mr. Pollard, and not afterward, another conviction would be embarrassing for Israel because its officials were supposed to have disclosed to the United States all relevant information about Israeli intelligence gathering at the time of Mr. Pollard’s arrest.

So how did the US uncover Kadish’s spying?

One possibility is that Larry Franklin disclosed Kadish’s spying to the government. While the AIPAC trial is increasingly likely to be dismissed rather than have Condi reveal her A1 Cut-Out methods under oath, Larry Franklin’s plea deal did require his ongoing cooperation with the government–so presumably, if he knew of other Israeli spying, he revealed it to them. But Kadish was charged in relation to a grand jury investigation out of SDNY, not EDVA (Kadish committed the alleged acts in New Jersey).

Another possibility is that the government traced back technological information they knew had ended up someplace it shouldn’t have back to the Israelis, and with it, to Kadish. The criminal complaint describes three documents above all that Kadish shared with the Israelis.

  1. One containing information relating to a nuclear weapons system
  2. One describing a modification of an F-15 sold to another country
  3. On concerning the Patriot missile system

It also noted that Kadish had signed out these documents in question. In other words, it’s possible that the government worked backwards from a country that had integrated certain F-15 modifications and Patriot missile technology into their own nuclear program to learn how they had acquired that technology–which led them through Israel to Kadish. One possibility is that this information ended up with Pakistan and this is an investigation that arose in relation to active investigations into the AQ Khan network (back in the BCCI days, the Israelis dealth US nuclear technology to the Pakistanis; though by 1988, the Pakistanis had modified their F-16s to carry nukes). It’s also possible Saudi Arabia is involved, since elsewhere the complaint describes Kadish saying the F-15 document "had a direct correlation to Israel’s security."

But the bit I find most telling are the charges only tangentially related to espionage: obstruction and false statements. As the complaint describes,

On or about March 20, 2008, after law enforcement officials … interviewed BEN-AMI KADISH, … KADISH received a telephone call from … CC-1 [almost certainly Yosef Yagur, Kadish’s handler], and CC-1 instructed KADISH to lie to the Law Enforcement Officials.

On or about March 21, 2008, the Law Enforcement Officials interviewed KADISH again in connection with the Grand Jury Investigation, and during this interview, KADISH stated that he (KADISH) did not speak with CC-1 after the First Interview.

In other words, Yagur (who is not in the US) apparently learned that the FBI had interviewed Kadish about the espionage (it is unclear whether the FBI first interviewed Kadish on March 20, or earlier than that). Yagur called Kadish and told him to lie. And the very next day, the FBI re-interviewed Kadish to ask about that call from Yagur, which Kadish denied.

Yagur knew–and knows–they’re closing in on him, over twenty years after he fled the country. And the FBI presumably had tapped Kadish or Yagur.

Back when Yagur handled Jonathan Pollard, he escaped charges (and escaped the country). For some reason, the government seems to have renewed interest in Yagur.


The Pentagon’s Media Analyst Domestic Psy-Ops Program: Is It Legal?

By now you have probably heard that the New York Times has an in-depth piece by David Barstow out for Sunday’s edition on the use by the Pentagon of media "military experts" as propaganda conduits.

It would be nice to be able to say that the revelations in Barstow’s article are shocking, but they are not. Spin and propaganda have, from the outset, been more important to the Bush Administration than efficient and effective performance and truth. This already looks to be a big deal around the blogosphere, everybody will be discussing the general parameters of the story. Dave Neiwert serves up a dissection at FDL (and do click through his links here and here to his earlier pieces at Orcinus in 2004 on Bush Administration psy-op propaganda, they are excellent).

Beyond the face value of the NYT article, however, lurk some more interesting issues. Marcy has, as usual, immediately found one in relation to the spotty history of the NYT on Bushco propaganda, most notably in regard to Judith Miller and the case for the Iraq War (can you say "Sweet Judy Blew Lies"? I can). Here is mine; we know this Pentagon propaganda scheme is crass and loathsome, but is it legal?

Arguably, the answer is no, it is not legal; of course, as we have seen time and again, that is never an impediment to the Bush Administration. And, as with so many other Bushco ills, we have a template for analysis because they have made a pattern and practice of crossing the line of propriety in this area. The gang of tricks is all here, "creative" expansion of law and standards, even one of those OLC opinions exonerating the conduct.

The framework for analysis here is supplied by the previous actions of the Bush administration in relation to paying Armstrong Williams to shill the No Child Left Behind program and the propagation of prepackaged fake video news stories. The heavy involvement of the Pentagon in the disingenuous news business was demonstrated by Jeff Gerth in a December 2005 NYT article:

The media center in Fayetteville, N.C., would be the envy of any global communications company.

In state of the art studios, producers prepare the daily mix of music and news for the group’s radio stations or spots for friendly television outlets. Writers putting out newspapers and magazines in Baghdad and Kabul converse via teleconferences. Mobile trailers with high-tech gear are parked outside, ready for the next crisis.

The center is not part of a news organization, but a military operation, and those writers and producers are soldiers. The 1,200-strong psychological operations unit based at Fort Bragg turns out what its officers call "truthful messages" to support the United States government’s objectives, though its commander acknowledges that those stories are one-sided and their American sponsorship is hidden.

The recent disclosures that a Pentagon contractor in Iraq paid newspapers to print "good news" articles written by American soldiers prompted an outcry in Washington, where members of Congress said the practice undermined American credibility and top military and White House officials disavowed any knowledge of it. President Bush was described by Stephen J. Hadley, his national security adviser, as "very troubled" about the matter. The Pentagon is investigating.

But the work of the contractor, the Lincoln Group, was not a rogue operation. Hoping to counter anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world, the Bush administration has been conducting an information war that is extensive, costly and often hidden, according to documents and interviews with contractors, government officials and military personnel.

The campaign was begun by the White House, which set up a secret panel soon after the Sept. 11 attacks to coordinate information operations by the Pentagon, other government agencies and private contractors.

Since 1951, Congress has enacted an annual, government wide prohibition on the use of appropriated funds for purposes of "publicity or propaganda." For instance, in 2005, the prohibition stated

No part of any appropriation contained in this or any other Act shall be used for publicity or propaganda purposes within the United States not heretofore authorized by the Congress. Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005, Pub. L. No. 108-447, div. G, title II, 624, 118 Stat. 2809, 3278 (Dec. 8, 2004). (The language of the prohibition has remained virtually unchanged since 1951.)

All of these ginned up propaganda programs started hitting the public consciousness in 2005, causing a public outcry and Congressional calls for an investigation, which was undertaken by the Government Accountability Office. The GAO issued a formal report in February 2005 indicating that the Bush Administration efforts to shape the news via the prepackaged video news releases were inappropriate. The GAO subsequently issued similar opinions on the other Bush propaganda programs, for instance, this September 2005 report on the paid use of Armstrong Williams on NCLB:

In previous opinions and decisions, we have found “materials . . . prepared by an agency or its contractors at the behest of the agency and circulated as the ostensible position of parties outside the agency” amount to covert propaganda that violates the prohibition. B‑229257, June 10, 1988. A critical element of this violation is the concealment of, or failure to disclose, the agency’s role in sponsoring the material. E.g., B-303495, Jan. 5, 2005. For example, in B-223098, B‑223098.2, Oct. 10, 1986, the Small Business Administration (SBA) prepared “suggested editorials” and distributed them to newspapers. The editorials advocated public support for an administration proposal to merge the SBA with the Department of Commerce. We found that those agency-prepared editorials were misleading as to their origins. The agency intended for the newspapers to print the editorials as their own position without identifying them as SBA-authored documents. This effort to conceal the agency’s authorship and make it appear that respected, independent authorities were endorsing the agency’s position went “beyond the range of acceptable agency public information activities” and violated the publicity or propaganda prohibition. Id. Similarly, in 66 Comp. Gen. 707 (1987), we held that newspaper articles and editorials (supporting the government’s Central American policy) that were prepared by paid consultants at government request and published as the work of nongovernmental parties violated the prohibition. Again, it was the covertness of the government’s actions that led to the violation. In that case, the government was attempting to convey a message to the public advocating the government’s position while misleading the public as to the origins of the message. Id. at 709.

In addition to the violation of the standard Appropriations Act language, the GAO has also pointed to the violation of the provisions of the Anti-Deficiency Act provisions:

The Department’s use of appropriated funds in violation of the publicity or propaganda prohibition also constituted a violation of the Antideficiency Act, 31 U.S.C. sect. 1341(a). This act prohibits making or authorizing an expenditure or obligation that exceeds available budget authority. B-300325, Dec. 13, 2002. Because the Department has no appropriation available to procure favorable commentary in violation of the publicity or propaganda prohibition, it violated the Antideficiency Act, 31 U.S.C. sect. 1341(a). Cf. B-303495, Jan. 4, 2005; B-302710, May 19, 2004. Under 31 U.S.C. sect. 1351, the Department must report its Antideficiency Act violations to the President and the Congress. At the same time, a copy must be sent to the Comptroller General.

The bottom line seems to be that any "covert" program by the government to shape the news, or disseminate false news, to the domestic American audience constitutes a violation of both the Appropriations Act prohibitions as well as the Anti-Deficiency Act. As further evidence of how sensitive the United States has historically been on prohibiting the governmental dissemination of domestic propaganda, keep in mind that the Smith-Mundt Act even prohibits the domestic dissemination of information utilized in foreign propaganda efforts of the US, which, of course, are legal (think Voice of America radio).

You would have to imagine that the first rationalization from Bushco will be along the lines of "well this is different than the Armstrong Williams situation because we didn’t expend any money paying the military analysts and there was no quid pro quo". I would argue that the following snippets from today’s NYT article put the lie to that likely defense:

Early one Friday morning, they put a group of retired military officers on one of the jets normally used by Vice President Dick Cheney and flew them to Cuba for a carefully orchestrated tour of Guantánamo.

In turn, members of this group have echoed administration talking points, sometimes even when they suspected the information was false or inflated. Some analysts acknowledge they suppressed doubts because they feared jeopardizing their access.

A few expressed regret for participating in what they regarded as an effort to dupe the American public with propaganda dressed as independent military analysis.

Internal Pentagon documents repeatedly refer to the military analysts as “message force multipliers” or “surrogates” who could be counted on to deliver administration “themes and messages” to millions of Americans “in the form of their own opinions.”

Conversely, the administration has demonstrated that there is a price for sustained criticism, many analysts said. “You’ll lose all access,” Dr. McCausland said.

Some of these analysts were on the mission to Cuba on June 24, 2005 — the first of six such Guantánamo trips — which was designed to mobilize analysts against the growing perception of Guantánamo as an international symbol of inhumane treatment.

It was, he said, “psyops on steroids” — a nuanced exercise in influence through flattery and proximity. “It’s not like it’s, ‘We’ll pay you $500 to get our story out,’ ” he said. “It’s more subtle.” The access came with a condition. Participants were instructed not to quote their briefers directly or otherwise describe their contacts with the Pentagon.

The memorandum led to a proposal to take analysts on a tour of Iraq in September 2003, timed to help overcome the sticker shock from Mr. Bush’s request for $87 billion in emergency war financing.

Some Pentagon officials said they were well aware that some analysts viewed their special access as a business advantage. “Of course we realized that,” Mr. Krueger said. “We weren’t naïve about that.”

Some e-mail messages between the Pentagon and the analysts reveal an implicit trade of privileged access for favorable coverage.

The Pentagon paid a private contractor, Omnitec Solutions, hundreds of thousands of dollars to scour databases for any trace of the analysts, be it a segment on “The O’Reilly Factor” or an interview with The Daily Inter Lake in Montana, circulation 20,000.

Sure looks like there was a conscious quid pro quo, and that a lot of money and effort went into this program that was not formally appropriated, and therefore was in violation of both the Appropriations Act yearly provisions and the Anti-Deficiency Act provisions.

Oh, by the way, remember my mention of the attempted use of one of those golden OLC Opinion shields? Here it is, although it now seems to be missing from the official list on the DOJ website. The opinion was authored by our old friend Steven Bradbury; although, clearly, neither the GAO not Congress found it persuasive in the least. What a shock.

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Originally Posted @ https://www.emptywheel.net/emptywheel/page/160/