Credit Card Companies Forestall Legal Trouble by Allowing Donations via DataCell
Remember that suit Wikileaks' hosting company, DataCell was about to file? Today was the day they were planning to do so. And surprise surprise, Visa and MasterCard have suddenly decided to start processing payments from DataCell again.
Late…
Is Anwar al-Awlaki The Unnamed "National of the United States" In Warsame Indictment?
So, is it truly the case that Awlaki is indeed the unnamed "national of the United States" here in the Warsame indictment? I don't know for certain, but it sure as heck fits the facts as we know them and the depraved refusal of the American government to talk about or let the public know its basis for impunity in marking an American citizen for extrajudicial termination with prejudice.
Yet Another Torture Cover-Up
When the Brits announced a year ago they'd hold an inquiry into torture, I suggested it was an attempt to get torture victims like Binyam Mohamed to settle so the British government could conduct a sham investigation. In November, Mohamed…
Scott Horton: Glenn Carle's "CAPTUS" Is Pacha Wazir
As we've noted a couple times at EW, I will be hosting Glenn Carle to discuss his book, The Interrogator, at Saturday's FDL Book Salon. As you no doubt know, his book describes his interrogation of what was described as a high level al Qaeda…
Government: Risen Shouldn't Be Able to Reveal We Want(ed) to Trump Up War against Iran
The government has now responded to Risen's attempt to quash his subpoena in the Jeffrey Sterling case. I fear the government will succeed in at least getting Risen to the stand, not least because of the gimmicks they've used to claim they need…
Eric Holder, Preet Bhrara, and Ray Kelly Planning Civilian Terror Trial in Manhattan
Was it just a year ago when we were told it was impossible to hold a civilian terrorist trial in NY?
Because that seems to be what DOJ and the NYPD have in mind with alleged -Shabaab leader, Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame, who is accused of multiple…
Bin Laden Found By Trolling The Weeds, Not By Torture
Goldman and Apuzzo have done good work on their story about the analyst who caught bin Laden, but the story is also an instructive primer on what didn't work, to wit: torture.
Rupert Murdoch's Hacks
How interesting that Rupert Murdoch's empire was the subject of not one, but two, hacking stories this weekend.
You probably heard how, in the US, someone hacked Fox News' Twitter account in the middle of the night leading into Fourth of…
The Drone War on Westphalia
I wrote a snippy post yesterday attacking Benjamin Wittes' claim that we've had a public debate about drones. But I wanted to do a more substantive post about something missing from the drone debate.
I believe that drones are a tool that…
Our "Public Debate" about Drones Is a State Secret
While I often disagree with Benjamin Wittes, I rarely think the stuff he writes is sheer nonsense.
This post, which attempts to rebut Eugene Robinson's column on Assassination by Robot, is an exception.
I disagree, respectfully, with most…
The WikiLeaks Suit against Visa and MasterCard
You may have heard that WikiLeaks is suing Visa and MasterCard for refusing to process donations to it.
That's not actually the case. Forbes has gotten a copy of the complaint, and as it lays out, an Icelandic company called DataCell…
DSK Case Collapse: Lawyers, Phone Calls & Money the Shit Hits The Fan
The criminal case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn is over, at least in anything but the most technical of senses; now the focus shifts to the underlying dynamics and lawyering on the case.
Obama's "Evolution" Accelerates: DOJ Formally Declares DOMA Unconstitutional
In a late filing in the Northern District of California (NDCA) case of Golinski v. US Department of Personnel Management, the Department of Justice has formally stated that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional.
Whither Stephen Kappes?
As I suggested yesterday, the investigation into Gul Rahman's death means there's a chance--teeny, presumably, but a chance nevertheless--that the investigation might move beyond the formerly-low level people implicated in the death (remember,…
Michael Mukasey's Torture Apologies
After the Osama bin Laden killing, Michael Mukasey rather shamelessly took the lead in claiming torture had some role in finding OBL.
I thought then that the sheer volume of the torture apologists' wails suggested that John Durham's torture…
Will Cyrus Vance Turn His Head & Walk Away From DSK?
The case against DSK, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, is disintegrating at the seams. It never seemed to be quite the closed case it was portrayed as, and now we are left to ask what lies beneath the messy and complicated incident.
Gul Rahman and Manadel al-Jamadi Investigations: The New Information
In his announcement that John Durham is investigating the deaths by torture of two CIA detainee, Eric Holder suggested that John Durham reviewed information that had not been reviewed by the prosecutors who had earlier declined to prosecute…
Betting for the Little People: Timmeh Geithner Departure Watch
Apparently, Timmeh Geithner has told Obama that he may leave after a budget deal, citing family considerations.
I'd be singing "ding dong the wicked witch" if I didn't know that his replacement will almost certainly be even worse.
But…
Two Dead Detainees May Get Justice. The Other 99 Will Not.
Eric Holder just released an announcement revealing that John Durham has recommended criminal investigation of two detainees tortured to death. But cases of the remaining 99 detainees whose treatment Durham investigated will be dismissed.
On…
Bahraini Riot Police Attacks Citizens on Day After Human Rights Inquiry Announced
Yesterday, Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa announced a human rights inquiry into crackdowns on protestors. Human rights violations would not be tolerated, he claimed.
King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa announced the move in a speech at an…