The Context of the July 13 Fax
As I pointed out in an earlier post, when Counterterrorism Center lawyer Jonathan Fredman sent the torturers in Thailand a green light for torture in August 2002, he relied on language about intent from a July 13, 2002 fax from John Yoo to John…
Abu Zubaydah's Drawings
Jason Leopold has a long article on Abu Zubaydah out that you should read in detail. It provides an update on AZ's torture diaries (which his lawyer now has, though in untranslated form). And the tidbit that one reason officials are so worried…
The Militiagan Wolverines
Here's a copy of in the indictment against the nine Hutaree milita members who were planning attacks on the government. (h/t scribe and Jeralyn)
Since we've been talking about whether right-wing extremists are organized enough to call terrorists,…
Yoo's Supervisors Didn't Know about the July 13, 2002 Fax
As I pointed out in my last post, when Jonathan Fredman wrote the Abu Zubaydah torture team in Thailand to tell them they had gotten the green light to torture, he cited not the Bybee One memo which had just been signed, but a July 13, 2002…
Abu Zubaydah's Torturers Relied on July 13 Yoo Fax, not Bybee Memo
There's an astounding passage in Bybee's Second Response to the OPR Report that reveals that Abu Zubaydah's torturers relied on a July 13, 2002 memo Yoo sent to John Rizzo, rather than the Bybee One Memo, for their general torture authorization.
In…
Koh v. Johnson: Material Support in Far Away "Battlefields"
I don't know about you. But I'm sort of bored with the Holder v. Rahm fight over torture and Gitmo. My hope is they'll start a military commission trial, it'll get delayed and challenged, and Holder will be able to demonstrate in terms even…
Can't Spell Militia without "MI" (and IN and OH)
Apparently, while I was sleeping, they turned my local sheriff's department into a staging center for FBI raids against a Christian-focused militia group less then 40 miles away.
The FBI conducted raids Saturday night in Washtenaw County and…
Dusty Foggo's Girlfriend, John Rizzo, and the Salt Pit
The AP story on the Salt Pit death makes it clear that--at a time when Dusty Foggo was Executive Director of CIA--he was involved in an internal review of the death.
The current U.S. official insisted that the case was adequately scrutinized.…
The Salt Pit and the Bybee Memos
The AP has a long article out providing details behind the Salt Pit death of a detainee named Gul Rahman--a former militant associated with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar who was captured on October 29, 2002 at the home of Hekmatyar's son-in-law, Dr. Ghairat…
Obama Discovers Recess Appointments--But Not for Dawn Johnsen
Congratulations to Craig Becker, who has finally gotten his recess appointment to serve on the National Labor Relations Board. As well as 14 other people who were similarly recess appointed today.
Not on that list?
Dawn Johnsen.
Any more…
DOJ Still Deliberating about 2006 White Paper
As I noted in my last post, the Obama Administration is following Bush Administration precedent in shielding OLC memos from Congressional oversight.
The Kyl and Coburn requests for OLC memos on any rights Gitmo detainees would get if brought…
Another Administration withholding OLC Memos
I'm going to have a few posts on answers Eric Holder gave to the Senate Judiciary Committee's Questions for the Record submitted after his last appearance in November 2009.
Two of the questions (one from John Kyl and the other from Tom Coburn)…
Jeff Sessions: George Bush Waited 7 Years to Set Up Military Commissions
Jeff Sessions has already seized on yesterday's release of DOJ's list of 390 terrorist convictions and twisted it to sustain his claim that we need to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a military commission. Much of his response consists of making…
The Cass Sunstein Campaign against Open Source Leaks
Cass Sunstein doesn’t really have all that much to do with the content of this post. I named it after him as an excuse to recommend that you read Glenn Greenwald’s take-down of Sunstein as a potential SCOTUS appointee, and particularly…
DOJ: Scott Roeder Is Not a Terrorist
Since we've been talking about domestic right wing terrorism of late, I wanted to elaborate on a point I made here. Today, the Department of Justice released a list of all the terrorist-related individuals it found guilty in civilian courts…
The 390 Terrorists Convicted in Civilian Courts
The Department of Justice has just sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee answering early questions about how many terrorists have been convicted or plead guilty in civilian courts. Between those convicted of terrorism-related crimes…
Another Reason to Use Civilian Courts
This WaPo story--which tells how Mohamedou Ould Slahi and Tariq al-Sawah got special privileges and too much fast food at Gitmo in exchange for cooperation--focuses on the things the detainees get, like Subway sandwiches, their own mint garden,…
The Comey College Of Prosecutorial Knowledge
Lockheed Martin has been hired by the US government to "train" prosecutors and public defenders in Liberia; what could go wrong?
Durham Going after the First Destruction of Torture Tapes?
Bmaz had a post up this yesterday, based on this WaPo story, concluding that we're not going to have real accountability for the destruction of the torture tapes. (Thanks to bmaz for minding the shop while I feted mr. ew's birthday.)
While…
Bull Durham Update: Torture Tape Investigation Winding Down Again
There is a report out in the Washington Post that John Durham may be winding up his torture tape investigation and that little, if anything, will come from it.