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Spanking Spak and Spec

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emptywheel
Arlen "Scottish Haggis" Specter has debased himself to fronting for the intellectually flaccid Hans von Spakovsky. Really. Is this what the conservative movement has come to?

Rush Holt: Investigate the Anthrax Attacks

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emptywheel
Rush Holt has introduced legislation to create an investigative commission into the anthrax attack.
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Senate Judiciary Hearing on Truth Commission Liveblog

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emptywheel
The Senate Judiciary Committee with host some "wise men" to help them figure out how our nation comes to grips with the crimes committed in the last eight years.

"Not Much Patience for Failure"

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emptywheel
8 years of George Bush:"All right. You've covered your ass, now."Five years of FUBAR in Iraq KatrinaAlberto GonzalesTwo landslides losses for the GOP The collapse of our entire economic system And now this: "What is amazing is that Steele was elected because of his communications skills, and it is those skills that are damaging the Republican Party.

Where Are the Other Memos?

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emptywheel
DOJ only gave us a small subset of the OLC memos the ACLU has requested. And it appears that Steven Bradbury's "no harm no foul" memos withdrawing older guidance still leave giant loopholes to permit abuse.

Correcting the Confused al-Haramain Reporting

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emptywheel
I've got so many links to really confused reporting on what happened in the al-Haramain case on Friday (see here, here, and here, for starters), that I'm going to take the trouble of trying to correct it. DOJ is not "defying" any judge, not the Appeals Court nor the District Court. Instead, they're intensifying efforts to prevent details of their warrantless wiretap program from coming forward.

OLC Restores 4th Amendment after Hounding from Congress

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emptywheel
Christy asks why it took so long to publish Steven Bradbury's October 2008 opinion restoring the 4th Amendment. Two very good reasons: because they were still relying on it for domestic wiretapping. And they didn't want to reveal they hadn't withdrawn the memo until after being hounded by Congress to do so.
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Breaking: Previously Unreleased OLC Opinions Now Released

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emptywheel
A bunch of DOD-related OLC opinions just got released (h/t Spencer) Of note, the one eviscerating the 4th Amendment has been released, and a key one on FISA that I believe Steven Bradbury didn't include in his FOIA response on opinions relating to FISA. Consider this a working thread.
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Who Watched the Torture Tapes?

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emptywheel
In addition to the news that the CIA destroyed 92 torture tapes, DOJ has informed Judge Hellerstein that we will shortly get a list of all the witnesses who may have viewed those tapes.
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Retroactive Immunity for the Banksters, Too?

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emptywheel
The John Pistole speech to the money laundering conference came right in the middle of debates about retroactive immunity for those who helped the government illegal wiretap Americans. I wonder whether it was meant to reassure them about their legal liability as well?

Some Clues to What "Inaccurate" Information Bush Provided in al-Haramain

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emptywheel
In May 2006, Bush's DOJ provided a description of the warrantless wiretapping to the judge in the al-Haramain suit. On Friday, Obama's DOJ submitted four new declarations--presumably to correct the "inaccurate" information provided in May 2006.

The al-Haramain Stall Timeline

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emptywheel
When you look at the timeline of DOJ's stalling on the al-Haramain case, it looks like they were desperately trying to reveal that the "inaccurate" information they just confessed to Judge Walker.

Did Bush Lie to Vaughn Walker?

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emptywheel
In another filing submitted after the 9th rejected Obama's appeal yesterday, the Obama DOJ admitted that there was an "inaccuracy" in the classified filings that had previously been submitted to Vaughn Walker. Did Bush lie to Vaughn Walker?
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The Vaunted WaPo Fact-Checking Process

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emptywheel
You know that vaunted editorial process that purportedly makes newspapers superior to blogs? Apparently, it comes without any critical thinking.

Michelle's Triceps Continue to Disarm Critics

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emptywheel
The snippy columnists are still attacking Michelle Obama for showing off her buff arms. But ordinary women are reacting by lifting weights.

Obama's Response to the al-Haramain Smack-Down? Cheneyesque Reasoning

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emptywheel
Mere hours after the 9th Circuit told the Obama Administration they cannot prevent a judge from ruling a ripe issue by invoking state secrets, they're back. And their logic is not getting any better.

Obama's FISA Headache

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emptywheel
Obama's headache from this al-Haramain ruling is not just because Judge Walker may well rule that Bush broke the law. There are three more reasons this is a big headache for Obama (and a potentiall great thing for us).
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