Conyers to Holder: Give Us the 215 Info
I guess I'm not the only one who noticed that DOJ is trying to reauthorize Section 215 without leveling with the American people how they're using it. John Conyer, Jerrold Nadler, and Bobby Scott have written Eric Holder, requesting that he make more information on the way Section 215 is used public.
How Republicans (and a Few Democrats) Avoided Limits on Section 215
How did it happen that, after the entire Senate Judiciary Committee approved limits on Section 215 during the 2005 PATRIOT authorization, the section was blown open during the conference report, effectively allowing the use of Section 215 in data mining?
Surprise! More Suppressed Torture Tapes
Did Susan Crawford admit the government had tortured Mohammed al-Qahtani because she knew there were tapes that might come out?
The Methods Used in the Zazi Investigation
Dina Temple-Raston has a great description of the various techniques the FBI used to catch Zazi before he set off any bombs.
The Total Nail Polish Remover Awareness Program, Brought to You by the Democratic Party
The discussion in Thursday's hearing on the PATRIOT Act pertaining to ongoing investigations.
Evidence The US Bought The Megrahi Conviction
The case against convicted Lockerbie/Pan Am 103 bombing suspect Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi was always thin, at best. Now there is evidence of a concealed collusion of the Scottish Crown prosecution team and US authorities to effectively buy Shopkeeper Gauci's testimony against Megrahi.
Big Game Trash
With September out of the way, the rust is off the gridiron and we are getting into the heart of the football season. Heck, we even got a cold snap going here in the desert. Got down to 72 degrees last night, and the hight today will only be in the low 90s. Great weekend for football.
DiFi and Pat Leahy, Silencing the Librarians
There's a cynical inclusion in the new PATRIOT language that DiFi put forward the other night. It basically creates an exception in the worsened Section 215 language just for libraries
DiFi's Invitation to a Fishing Expedition
As I noted last night, DiFi appears to have used the Najibullah Zazi investigation as justification to make the language surrounding Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act worse. Using that as cover, she is arguing that Congress must authorize the kind of investigative fishing expeditions she opposed four years ago.
The Evidence Against Zazi
A list of evidence the FBI has collected on Najibullah Zazi.
Nino Scalia Reinvents The Wheel
From the man conservatives and Federalist Society adherents routinely praise as an eloquent and transformational legal genius and gold standard for their idea of a Supreme Court Justice, comes this precious nugget courtesy of Ashby Jones at the WSJ Law Blog: Scalia wants lawyers to become auto workers.
What Judge Sullivan's Opinion Means
Judge Sullivan's ruling means we'll get about 15 of the 28 pages in Cheney's interview.
Judge Sullivan Rejects DOJ's Expansive Claims to Protect Cheney Interview
Judge Sullivan has rejected DOJ's most expansive claims they used to try to protect Dick Cheney's CIA Leak case interview.
I am reading this now for more detail, but the key graph is this one.
For the reasons stated above, the Court concludes that the agency has met its burden of demonstrating that certain limited information was appropriately withheld from disclosure to protect the well-recognized deliberative process and presidential communications privileges under Exemption
Buy Beauty Products? You Might Be a Terrorism Suspect.
I'm making a wildarsed guess that the federal government is investigating everyone who buys large amounts of certain kinds of beauty products.
Liveblog of SJC Reauthorization of PATRIOT Act
DiFi and Leahy revamped the bill last night, and in doing so took out some oversight of Section 215.
Feingold's Opening Statement on PATRIOT Reauthorization
Feingold reminds the Senate Judiciary Committee that Harry Reid said we should not wait to fix FISA.
DiFi: Zazi Investigation Biggest Since 9/11
I'm watching the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the PATRIOT Reauthorization. DiFi and Pat Leahy apparently revamped the bill last night.
She started by saying that the ongoing investigation into Najibullah Zazi is the biggest domestic terror investigation since 9/11.
An interesting claim...
Jay Rock Demands 90%
This is delectible politics. Fresh off a meeting with Ob-Rahma, Jay Rock has come back to the Senate and demanded 90% loss ratio for any coverage the subsidies pay for. That means the insurance companies can't steal 20% of our tax dollars to pay for executive salaries. They get 10%.
They're peeing their pants right now.
Thing is, this amendment will never ever pass.
As Predicted, the Administration Folds on Horn State Secrets Claims
As predicted, the Administration just settled the state secrets case that was really going to hurt their attempts to preserve the privilege.
George Steph Wrings His Hands
George Stephanopoulos, clutching his pearls, wants to know why it was necessary for Alan Grayson to call out Republicans on the floor of the House for their stubborn defense of the status quo.Why Is This Necessary? I'll tell him why.
