Condi Must Be Preparing a Dog and a Pony

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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. The State Department has issued new guidelines for Blackwater–basically giving our contractors babysitters to make sure they don’t do more harm than good. And then issued still more guidelines–basically teaching those thugs how to act like guests in someone else’s country. And somehow, on the night before Condi testifies before Waxman’s committee, the Assistant Secretary of State who was a jerk when he testified before the committee unexpectedly, um, resigns. We have not had such a concerted effort–at anything beyond propaganda–since the start of this Administration.

And then consider this factoid. Turkey is starting a low intensity waragainst Kurdistan, which pits the US’ most reliable allies in Iraq (inthe most stable area of the country) against a member of NATO. Butbefore visiting Turkey and trying to bribe them not to start the regional war we’ve all been fearing, Condi is Read more →

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What Riley Said about Rove

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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. Note the reason for the hedge: thanks to Republican willingness to publish Jill Simpson’s affidavit, Riley knew that Simpson had proof of the phone call. So Riley says,

I have no memory of being on a phone call with Jill Simpson ("Ms. Simpson") on November 18, 2002. Furthermore, I do not believe a phone call occurred … in which  … Mr. Canary allegedly made statements to the effect that "his girls" would take care of Mr. Siegelman, or that "Karl" had spoken to, or gone over to, the Department of Justice and that the Department of Justice was pursuing, or would pursue, a case against Siegelman.

The whole paragraph is a big sloppy mess (and I’ve tried to make the grammatical structure of it clearer by taking out the extraneous bits). But as to Read more →

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Dick’s Shooting Ranch: the Welfare Queen of the Farm Bill

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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. CIR lays out how much this farm welfare pays to receive such goodies.

Additional reporting by CIR shows that from 1997–2006, King Ranch madeat least $960,000 in federal campaign contributions, including softmoney. The contributions came from King Ranch’s PAC, executives, andboard members.

Since 2001, King Ranch spent at least $850,000 on lobbying. To lobbyfor the Farm Bill, King Ranch hired Katharine Armstrong, whose familyowns the ranch where Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot attorney Harry Whittington.

Though you gotta wonder: how much credit does a hyper-connected farm welfare recipient get for covering up the Vice President’s drunken shooting accidents?

Update: mainsailset is right: the King Ranch is the ranch down the street, not the one where Cheney did the horrible deed. The King Ranch folks were invited to lunch on Sunday, the day that Cheney was still recovering Read more →

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Henry Sez: Erik Prince, You Owe the Feds $48 Million

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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 this ruling is that Blackwater may have avoided paying millions of dollars in Social Security, Medicare, unemployment, and related taxes for which it is legally responsible.

What I like best, though, is that Henry had Oversight calculate how much Blackwater likely owes in back taxes, just on its State Department contract.

Blackwater was awarded its current State Department contract in May 2006. Under the contract, Blackwater has maintained a force of between 459 and 582 security guqlds in Iraq who were paid between $660 and $738 per day and typically worked 180 days ayear." My staff estimates that between May 2006, when the contract began, and March 2007, when Blackwater received the IRS ruling, Blackwater would have avoided withholding and paying approximately the following amounts if it treated these security guards as independent contractors instead of as employees: $15.5 million in Social Security and Medicare taxes," $15.8 million in federal income tax withholding, and $500,000 in unemployment taxes.

One unanswered question is whether Blackwater has continued to avoid withholding and paying Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment taxes and federal income tax withholding for its employees since Blackwater received the IRS ruling in March 2007. One former Blackwater security guard has informed my staff that Blackwater did not withhold and pay these taxes at least through May 2007. If Blackwater has continued this illegal practice, my staff estimates that Blackwater would have evaded an additional $18 million in taxes from April 2007 through September 2007 under the State Department contract alone.

Waxman goes on to insinuate that Blackwater attempted to keep this information from "politicians and public officials" like Waxman–using a non-disclosure agreement to hide illegal behavior.

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Gonzales Refuses to Answer Questions

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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 of Inspector General, who will forwardtheir final report to Congress.

“My best guess is it will be released sometime next month,’’ andlikely will include recommendations for criminal prosecutions ofGonzales and maybe others, McKay said.

Gonzales “lied about” reasons for the firings when questioned underoath in July by the Senate Judiciary Committee and now has hired alawyer and is refusing to answer questions from the Inspector General,McKay said.

First, we’re going to get a public report from OIG. This is a key result of pressure from Sheldon Whitehouse, among others, who realized that AGAG had attempted to put Office of Professional Responsibility in charge of the investigation, and therefore bury any conclusions with a non-public report.

Then, consider the timing. McKay says he got called to DC for an entire day of testimony. At Read more →

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Jello Jay Rockefeller’s “Deal”

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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 immunity to the phoneand Internet companies.

“To the extent of anyone else beingable to see the documents,” Ms. Perino said, “I think that we’ll waitand see who else is willing to include that provision in the bill.”

And Cheney tried to withhold the documents until after the immunity had already passed. This is some new kind of oversight, in which you have to first agree that any oversight won’t matter before you’re allowed to exercise that oversight. I’m curious how the terms were left, when the SSCI Senators and staffers got to review the document. Would the Administration have accused Jello Jay of bad faith if, after reviewing the documents, he decided immunity was improper after all?

The article also explains that Kit Bond–and not Mike McConnell–negotiated the "deal" with Read more →

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The Show Trials

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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 the pressure played a part in his decision to resign earlier this month.

I’m just a little curious about the timing. The guy the Administration  put in to "nano-manage" the prosecutions, General Thomas Hartmann, only came on this summer.

Hartmann arrived as legal adviser to the convening authority lastsummer, and suddenly, Davis said during a lengthy interview, his officewas inundated with what he called "nano-management," including requeststo oversee cases that had previously been left solely to prosecutors.

Part of the new focus, Davis said, was to speed up cases that wouldshow the public the system was working. Davis said he wanted to focuson cases that had declassified evidence, so the public could see theentire trial through news coverage. That would defuse possibleallegations that the trials were stacked against defendants.

But Hartmann said Read more →

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Fieger’s Judge Gets Curious

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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. District Judge Paul Borman also wanted to know why it took 75 to80 federal agents to raid Fieger’s law office and confront 32 employeeson the doorsteps after dark in November 2005.

[snip]

Borman is mulling over a request by Fieger’s lawyers to let them gatherevidence and depose past and present Justice Department officials tofind out whether the Bush administration ordered the probe. If it did,Fieger’s lawyers want the charges dismissed.

Potential deposition targets could include former Attorney GeneralAlberto Gonzales and former White House political adviser Karl Rove.

This prosecution is one of several that appear to have targeted trial lawyers who were big money donors to Democrats, particularly John Edwards. And Fieger’s the kind of scrappy fighter who may well pull this off.

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FISA Update

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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. He said hisstaff was allowed to take notes, but he hadn’t been briefed on theircontents yet and intended to view them for himself.

[snip]

House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, Jr.,D-Mich., in a letter to White House counsel Fred Fielding, complainedthat the documents were being provided to Senate Intelligence, but notto his panel or the House Intellligence Committee.

I’m betting that in approximately 4 days, the Republicans will accuse Democrats of leaking materials that were actually leaked by Richard Shelby.

Second, it appears that Republican posturing about a bill is now considered news.

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And Then There Were Three?

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Via DK at TPM, all three big telecoms have told Congress to fuck off they can’t confirm or deny whether they’ve been breaking the law by cooperating with the Administration.

Three telecommunications companies have declined to tell Congresswhether they gave U.S. intelligence agencies access to Americans’ phoneand computer records without court orders, citing White Houseobjections and national security.

Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell "formally invokedthe state secrets privilege to prevent AT&T from either confirmingor denying" any details about intelligence programs, AT&T generalcounsel Wayne Watts wrote in a letter to the House Energy and CommerceCommittee.

Qwest and Verizon also declined to answer, saying the federalgovernment has prohibited them from providing information, discussingor referring to any classified intelligence activities.

Used to be–back in the halcyon Nacchio days and shortly thereafter–that only two telecoms would invoke State Secrets: AT&T and Verizon. But here we have Qwest doing so too.

Is that the reason why Qwest isn’t shrieking more loudly about the immunity deal its rivals might get for being more reckless with the law than Qwest?

Update: Here’s a new line. It’s not the program that is confidential. It’s the proof that the telecoms had AG authorization to undertake the programs that is confidential.

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