Dark Actors Playing Games with Iraq WMD Propaganda
The National Security Archive has been doing great work going back and collecting the documents leading to the Iraq War, adding some it acquired through FOIA. Its first installment provided new evidence of how quickly the Bush Administration…
CIA Had Warning on Khost Attack, Will Not Hold Anyone Responsible
Jordanian intelligence warned the CIA that Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, the Khost bomber, might be working for al Qaeda three weeks before al-Balawi killed 7 CIA people in the attack. But because the CIA still suffers from the same information…
Fred Johnson Takes on Blackwater in Erik Prince's Home Town
Fred Johnson is the Democratic candidate for Congress in MI's 2nd Congressional District.
When his opponent--Crazy Pete Hoekstra lackey Bill Huizenga--claimed to want to cut costs in a debate the other day, Johnson called him on his hypocrisy…
CIA Sues over Whistleblower Book
Jeff Stein reports that, after months of rumors this would happen, the CIA has sued Ishmael Jones for publishing The Human Factor: Inside the CIA's Dysfunctional Intelligence Culture without approval from CIA's review board.
The Justice Department…
"Then We Turned the Illegal, Legal, AND Made the White House MORE Snuggly"
Sometimes the only thing you can do is laugh.
And if you want to know more than that, it's a state secret, so you must be a terrorist.
Administration Inches Closer to Rule of Law on Foreclosure Crisis
...with this statement from Robert Gibbs:
As institutions are determining their next steps in addressing these issues, we remain committed to holding accountable any bank that has violated the law. In addition to strongly supporting the investigation…
Foreclosure Mill King David Stern Announces Big Management Changes
David Stern's company, the foreclosure mill that has removed thousands of Floridans from their homes, announced big management changes today. Otherwise known as abandoning ship:
DJSP Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq:DJSP) (Nasdaq:DJSPW) (Nasdaq:DJSPU)…
What Did David Stern Do with the Truck of Documents He Removed from His Office?
4ClosureFraud published another of the depositions from the FL investigation into foreclosure mill David Stern's office. In it, Kelly Scott, the assistant of Cheryl Salmons--the woman who oversaw the robosigner aspect of their business--included…
Will SCOTUS Give Ashcroft Immunity in Ashcroft v. al-Kidd?
SCOTUS decided today to take John Ashcroft's appeal of a 9th Circuit decision finding that he did not have immunity from suit in using the material witness statute to illegally hold someone without probable cause.
The Supreme Court, finishing…
Rule of Law Has Broken Down for Secrets, Just Like Everything Else
Michael Isikoff takes a story Jack Goldsmith already treated and raises the logical conclusions. As I noted, Jack Goldsmith asked John Rizzo why it was that Woodward could publish the proceedings of a briefing from which even top Obama officials--like…
HUD Secretary Donovan: Banks Should Fix Problems Caused by their Law Breaking
Check out the following passage in HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan's statement opposing a moratorium on foreclosures:
No one should lose their home as a result of a bank mistake. No one. That is why the Obama Administration has a comprehensive…
Trash: They Might Be Giants
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bmazWas discussing the state of the NFL last night with Marcy, and the prevailing opinion was an unusual lack of particularly exciting or compelling story lines. A strange parity and blaah seems to have set in to the league that hardly ever suffers…
Who Arrested and Interrogated Hussein Abebe?
Mary and I both noted the suggestion in Judge Lewis Kaplan's summary opinion refusing to let Hussein Abebe testify against Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani that Abebe himself was coerced to testify.
Kaplan's complete ruling provides more details. At…
Judge Kaplan: Government Couldn't Use Abebe as Witness in Military Commission, Either
I'm going to have a longer post about some curious details revealed in Judge Lewis Kaplan's order refusing the government request to have Hussein Abebe testify against Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani. But I wanted to point to a footnote in which Kaplan…
How Much More Foreclosure Fraud Is Under Seal?
The NYT has a fascinating story about the $75,000 house that led to the GMAC deposition on robosigning that finally alerted the world to the extent of the fraud behind foreclosures. It's worth reading for the description of Thomas Cox, a lawyer…
If Voluntary Moratoria Mean Banks Are Solving the Problem, What about Wells Fargo?
Elizabeth Warren, presumably laying the foundation for an Administration deal with banks to not unwind the entire securitization paperwork problem in exchange for loan modifications, points to banks' voluntary foreclosure moratoria as proof…
The UndieBomber Hearing
The UndieBomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, had his first day in court since he decided to represent himself today. The outcome of the day was to schedule another pre-trial hearing on January 12.
The only drama of the day pertained to whether…
Treasury Sez Banksters Are Lousy Neighbors Who Broke the Law
The Treasury Department gave Felix Salmon's response to Crusader against Injustice Timmeh Geithner's statement on foreclosures more attention than it gave mine--they emailed a response to Salmon's questions about why foreclosures would hurt…
JP Morgan Chase's Several Week Timeline
In addition to dropping MERS today, JP Morgan Chase had an earnings call at which Jamie Dimon was asked questions about JPMC's foreclosure fraud. Calculated Risk has a transcription (both the AP and WSJ attribute these comments to Dimon, though…
Why Does Alabama Love Foreclosure Fraud?
This is just an observation.
As of current reporting, Alabama's Attorney General Troy King is the only state AG not to join in the joint investigation of foreclosure fraud. Even Michigan AG Mike Cox, whose spokesperson said investigating…