Bush's Direct and Constant Knowledge of the NIE Intelligence
The WaPo provides answers most of our questions on the genesis of the NIE. It shows that Bush has known a lot more about the genesis of the NIE than he has let on. Too bad this article appears on a Saturday and under the cloud of the torture tapes news.
Was Ramzi Bin al-Shibh the Second Al Qaeda Detainee?
Have you noticed that no one is telling us who the second Al Qaeda detainee is--the one whose torture tape was destroyed along with that of Abu Zubaydah? What if it was Ramzi Bin al-Shibh?
Coming after John Yoo
Remember that OPR investigation into the legal rationale for warrantless wiretapping? Well, it's going to find more than an opinion that speciously justified spying on Americans. It's going to find that John Yoo told BushCo that he gets to write his own law.
What Do They Say About Cookies Crumbling?
Cookie Krongard steps down as State's IG.
General Hayden Gets Mail
Conyers and friends write to Hayden for better answers than he gave to the CIA yesterday.
Whitehouse Reveals Smoking Gun of White House Claiming Not to Be Bound by Any Law
Sheldon Whitehouse got the key provisions that justify the Unitary Executive declassified--and boy will they make you mad.
Hayden's Letter
A reading of Michael Hayden's letter to the CIA about destroying torture tapes.
Everything Leaks
I wonder whether when Dick said, "everything leaks" in a recent interview with Politico he knew the CIA was desperately trying to manage the leak of the news that they had destroyed videos of Al Qaeda torture sessions?
Torture and Taping Timeline
Timeline collecting the torture memos, known changes in image guidelines, and key comings and goings in the torture saga.
Absence of Torture Tape Librarian a Feature, Not a Bug
I joked a few weeks ago that the CIA needed a dedicated torture tape librarian, because they keep losing such tapes. Today's NYT story suggests such losses are, at least in two cases, deliberate.
John Bolton Time Warp
Guess what?!?!? John Bolton is an intellectually sloppy and inconsistent man.
Dick Vetted the Intelligence Two Weeks Ago
The intelligence analysts had to present the intelligence underlying the NIE at a meeting in the Situation Room two weeks ago. Unsurprisingly, Dick Cheney was there, twisting arms again.
John Bolton and the IC's New Sourcing Rules
John Bolton says the NIE is wrong because it was written by those at State who tried to correct his delusions about Iraq. But it seems they've brought some sound sourcing requirements that were precisely the kind of thing Bolton tried to avoid when he drummed up the war in Iraq.
Hillary: Bashing the Youth Vote
Hillary's attack on Obama's college caucus-goers in IA betrays not just cynicism, but real ignorance about how HAVA has affected college voters.
Scruggs Update: Balducci Did Flip
Balducci's plea agreement tells us what we all suspected about the Dickie Scruggs case: Balducci, the guy who originally offered the bribe, did flip on the other alleged co-conspirators.
NIE Timeline, Take Three
A timeline of the drafting of the NIE and related items.
The NIE and Israel
It sure looks like the withdraw of support for a UN statement supporting the Annapolis peace plan relates to the release of the NIE.
I Dunno. It Looks Like a Banana Republic to Me.
Zalmay Khalilzad schools Condi on what it means to run a bureaucracy in a Banana Republic.
Scottish Haggis' Latest "Compromise"
Arlen "Scottish Haggis" Specter strikes again with another wishy-washy legal compromise.
Big Shitpile Data Point
Is it a coincidence the mortgage companies bilked in mortgage fraud are the ones buried under the shitpile?
