AT&T Confident Its Partner in Crime Will Let It Take Over T-Mobile
Here's the last paragraph of a Politico article describing the considerable extent of AT&T's paid influence in DC.
AT&T said Monday that it is “confident” it can secure federal approval as it presents its case for T-Mobile,…
8 Years Ago Today, KSM Was Probably Being Waterboarded for the 179th Time
I don't really know precisely what days in March 2003 the CIA's contractors waterboarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed a total of 183 times.
But I thought about the rough timing when Dafna Linzer tweeted about this Steven Aftergood post, noting…
New Standard for Justice: Innocent Until a Secret Shrink Study Proves You Guilty after Your Death
Our country apparently has a new standard for justice: innocent until a secret study--headed by a guy who may have had some responsibility for screwing up an earlier investigation and conducted entirely after your death--finds you were psychologically…
Will the US Share Intelligence with Israel's New Left Wing Intelligence Initiative?
Ha'aretz reports that Israel's Military Intelligence set up a group several months ago dedicated to collecting intelligence on non-Israeli leftist organizations that criticize Israel.
Military Intelligence is collecting information about left-wing…
How to Ensure You'll Always Have War Powers to Fight Eastasia
As we've known for years, the May 6, 2004 OLC opinion authorizing the warrantless wiretap program shifted the claimed basis for the program from inherent Article II power to a claim the Afghanistan AUMF trumped FISA.
But one problem with…
Dick, the Miniseries
Congratulations to Barton Gellman, whose book on Cheney's abuse of the Constitution, Angler, will serve as the basis for an HBO miniseries.
HBO has optioned the book Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency by Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Barton…
The March--and April or May--2004 Changes to the Illegal Wiretap Program
Apologies in advance. I'm going to be in the weeds reading the May 6, 2004 Goldsmith opinion for a little bit.
In this post, I want to point to some details of timing that, I think, suggest that the changes DOJ made to Cheney's illegal wiretap…
Apparently, "Blood Money" Now Includes "Green Cards"
Last we heard about the families of Raymond Davis' victims, they were held in custody until they agreed to accept the blood money Pakistan offered on our behalf.
Things are looking up for the family members, though. Eighteen of them have…
Another Secret OLC Opinion: This One on Information Sharing
As MadDog and I were discussing on this thread, the May 6, 2004 Jack Goldsmith opinion on the warrantless wiretap program references an OLC opinion that appears not to have been publicly released or, even in the course of FOIA, disclosed.
Thus,…
Working Thread on Illegal Wiretap Memo
As I noted in this post, DOJ has released two of the memos used to authorize the illegal wiretap program. I made some brief comments on the November 2, 2001 John Yoo memo here. This will be a working thread on the May 6, 2004 Jack Goldsmith…
Newly Released OLC Opinion Reveals How Yoo Relied on Eliminating Fourth Amendment to Wiretap Illegally
As Josh Gerstein and Jack Goldsmith note, DOJ just released two of the opinions underlying the warrantless wiretap programs. They both focus on the May 6, 2004 opinion Goldsmith wrote in the wake of the hospital confrontation; I'll have far…
Chris Smith Opposes IRS Enforcement on Undeclared $$, But Supports IRS Enforcement on Undeclared Babies
Chris Smith co-sponsored HR 4, which would overturn the provision of health care reform that required all businesses to issue 1099 forms for goods and services in excess of $600. The whole point of the 1099 provision was designed to crack down…
NSA's Clusterfuck Financial Management
I'm reading through the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence's report on what it did last Congress. Among a number of interesting details, the report describes really really bad accounting at the National Security Agency (NSA).
The report…
Judge Questions Government's Persecution of DADT Activists
I'm busy watching this hearing today (and trying to watch one that happened last week). It's hard to watch two hearings at once!
But I didn't want you think I was still celebrating St. Paddy's Day, so for the moment I'll direct you to this…
BIFFOs and Banksters
I almost got distracted from working my yearly post around this picture of Mr. EW and I in Moneygall, taken back in 2008 when Brian Cowen was about to become Ireland's Taoiseach and Barack O'Bama was about to officially get enough delegates…
Why Won't Jeh Johnson Answer Hank Johnson's Question about Forced Nudity?
The House Armed Services Committee is having a hearing on Law of War Detention. Much of it has focused on Jeh Johnson affirming that military commissions line up with American values. (In other words, it is fairly depressing.)
But an interesting…
US Cheating on European SWIFT Agreement Reveals Safeguards Were Oversold
As I noted last night, the US has been violating the spirit of its agreement with the EU on access to the SWIFT database--the database tracking international financial transfers. Rather than giving Europol specific, written requests for data,…
US Cheats on SWIFT Agreement with Oral Requests
I have tracked the American negotiations with the post-Lisbon EU to get continued access to the SWIFT database, the database that tracks international money payments.
Basically, after the Lisbon Treaty went into effect last year, the EU Parliament…
Pakistan Pays Blood Money So We Don't Have To
As Jim White reported this morning, Raymond Davis has been released after the families of his victims were paid blood money per Sharia law.
We've really gotten to bizarro-land when a possible Blackwater contractor has been saved by Sharia…
Photos from MadMI, Lansing
Thought I'd share some pics from the rally today in Lansing. It's a decent sized crown--6,000 around noon; they expect to get a whole bunch of teachers out for the last set of speakers at 4:30.
Here's the crowd just outside of the Capitol…